Musharraf to be brought back through Interpol if ordered by court: Nisar

Says he does not know about any arrest warrant for Musharraf and has nothing
to do with the former president’s health issues; no guarantee taken from
ex-president for his return; Musharraf’s name removed from ECL as per SC order

ISLAMABAD: As the opposition parties during a joint sitting of parliament on Monday unleashed criticism on the government for allowing the former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to leave the country, Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the former dictator would be brought back to the country through Interpol whenever the Supreme Court (SC) or any other court ordered the government in this regard.

He said that no guarantee was taken from the former president for his return to the country. He made it clear that he did not know about any arrest warrant issued for Pervez Musharraf by a court.

However, he made it clear that many options, including Interpol, would be resorted to for his extradition whenever a need in this regard arose. He said that Musharraf’s name was removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) as per the law and he had nothing to do with the health issues of the former dictator.

He said that Musharraf’s name was removed from the ECL in the light of the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.Responding to the criticism of the opposition members, the interior minister said Pervez Musharraf would be extradited back to Pakistan through Interpol when the apex court would issued orders in this regard.

Senator Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan immediately challenged the claims of the interior minister saying that the apex court did not order the removal of the name of Pervez Musharraf from the ECL. “I will advise the interior minister to first go through the short order passed by the Supreme Court,” he said.

The joint sitting of parliament was summoned to take up seven bills, including the Pakistan International Airlines (Conversion) Bill. However, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, and PTI lawmaker Shah Mehmood Qureshi, taking the opportunity of the joint session, raised the issue of departure of Pervez Musharraf in the presence of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

The MQM parliamentarians also staged a token walkout from the proceedings against the arrest of party leaders and workers and their non-production in courts. Dr Farooq Sattar raising the issue said such an attitude was a violation of human rights.

They wanted to know as to whether the government had struck any deal or any external pressure forced it to allow Musharraf to leave the country.The opposition leader, while speaking on a point of order, said he wanted to refer to the speech of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on June 24, 2013 when he, while taking the National Assembly into confidence, said that a dictator who abrogated the Constitution and removed an elected government would be taken to task.

The proceedings of the joint sitting were suspended for 20 minutes for the Maghrib prayers soon after the opposition leader started his speech. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was present in the hall at the start of the proceedings, did not return to the House after the break for prayer.Pointing to the absence of the prime minister from the proceedings, Khursheed Shah said he should have been present in the House during his speech.