ISLAMABAD The Interior Ministry, without informing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has favoured 10 parliamentarians, whose names are on the Exit Control List, by removing restriction on their foreign travel. Interior Minister Rehman Malik is among the beneficiaries.

Sources told DawnNews on Saturday that the ministry on Dec 21 sent a letter to the immigration staff of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at all the country's airports, telling them not to stop the 10 people from travelling out of the country.

Besides Mr Malik, the letter contains the names of PPP secretary general Jehangir Badr, Minister of State Tariq Anis, MNAs Yousaf Talpur, Lal Chand, Mohammad Ali Rind, Waseem Akhter and former interior minister Aftab Sherpao.

Names of these people had been put on the ECL by the ministry itself after receiving a request from NAB after the Dec 16 Supreme Court judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Mr Malik has reportedly paid a brief visit to Dubai recently and now is back in the country.

The updated ECL reportedly contains the names of 165 people. Interestingly, the list does not contain the name of any MQM leader.

Prominent among those on the ECL are Pakistan's Ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani, Salman Faruqui, Nusrat Bhutto, Siraj Shamsuddin (currently posted with the Asian Development Bank), Anwar Saifullah, former Habib Bank president Yousaf Dalia, PML-N's MNA Rana Nazir Ahmad, Usman Faruqui, Habibullah Kundi, Sardar Mansoor Laghari, Saeed Mehdi, Javed Burki, Mir Baz Khetran, former National Assembly deputy speaker Haji Nawaz Khokhar, former IB chief Brig Imtiaz and his son Nadeem Imtiaz, ex-MNA Haji Kabir Khan, Pir Mukarramul Haq (the brother of Sindh minister Pir Mazharul Haq), ex-MNA Malik Mushtaq Awan; ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood and ex-secretary commerce Brig (r) Aslam Hayat Qureshi.