PM Abbasi, Ishaq Dar reach Pakistan

By
Wadood Mushtaq
LEFT: Pakistan's former finance minister Ishaq Dar holds a news conference in Islamabad, April 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed; RIGHT: Pakistan's incumbent Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi speaks during an interview at his office in Islamabad, Pakistan, September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood
 

LONDON: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reached Pakistan late Sunday after a week's sojourn in New York and London. He was accompanied by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

It has been learnt that Dar, having arrived in the country, will appear before an accountability court to face a corruption reference filed against him.

An accountability court issued arrest warrants for Dar in a corruption case against him after he failed to appear for his hearing on September 20.

Dar had been in London at the time of the hearing. Following the issuance of warrants, calls for Dar's resignation echoed in the Senate.

Sources said further that the premier held another meeting with former prime minister and party leader Nawaz Sharif prior to his departure from London.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in London on Saturday for 'important' political consultations with his brother and ousted premier Nawaz.

Nawaz has been in London, along with other members of his family, to spend time with his wife who is undergoing medical treatment for lymphoma.

Nawaz, his daughter Maryam, sons Hussain and Hasan, and son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar are also facing three corruption cases in the Islamabad Accountability Court and have been summoned to appear at the next hearing on September 26.

The cases have been filed by the National Accountability Bureau in light of the Supreme Court's judgment in the Panama Papers case.