Nisar, Khursheed defend NAB chief

ISLAMABAD: It is a coincidence that Ch Nisar Ali Khan and Khursheed Shah, the two key persons behind appointment of NAB Chairman Qamaruzzaman, were simultaneously defending him in Islamabad and Lala Musa.

Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan declared Ch Qamar a punctilious, competent and experienced person. At a news conference, he defended the Qamar-led NAB and rejected all accusations of opponents by presenting a comparative analysis of its present and past workings. Nisar said it was for the first time that the government appointed NAB chairman with consultation of the opposition leader. Nisar added that during the Musharraf and Zardari rules, the governments appointed NAB chiefs independently and he (Ch Nisar) was not consulted when he was opposition leader.

He recalled a meeting of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with businessmen who complained about excesses of NAB which moved the prime minister and impelled him to make a statement against NAB. The interior minister said he was present at the meeting and clarified that the statement did not intend to clip powers of NAB nor make NAB controversial.

At the same time in Lala Musa at the residence of former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah defended NAB chairman and said his appointment was done rightly and with appropriate care.