Islamabad: Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif was arrested on Tuesday on charges of disproportionate assets by anti-corruption officials in Islamabad.
When he was coming out of the party meeting where he was taken into the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PM-N) spokesman Mariam Aurangzeb said
The bureau said Asif held Dubai Iqama (work permit) from 2004 to 2008, and earned a total of ₹ 136 million for his services as a consultant legal advisor.. Lahore office officials executed the arrest in “assets beyond known sources of income”, the NAB said in a statement. He was directed to furnish details of salary and other information received.
“Khwaja Asif failed to cooperate during continuous questioning,” according to NAB.
PML-N chief former chief Nawaz Sharif condemned the arrest. He said that it showed that the government was executed and said “the days of blind vengeance (by the government) are numbered”.
His daughter Maryam Nawaz alleged that Asif was being pressured to oppose Nawaz Sharif and was arrested for refusing to do so.
With his arrest, Asif now joins a long list of PML-N leaders facing corruption cases, including party president Shahbaz Sharif, senior members Hamza Shahbaz, Rana Sanaullah, Javed Latif, Ahsan Iqbal, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi , Saad Rafiq etc.
Pakistan Democratic Movement – a coalition of 11 opposition parties – is organizing protests across the country, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan