ISLAMABAD: The federal government today (Friday) gave one-time permission to senior PML-N leader and former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to travel abroad for 15 days.
A summary has been approved by the Interior Ministry, according to which the federal government has removed the name of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from the Exit Control List (ECL) and allowed him to fly abroad.
Sources have informed that permission from the federal government was given on a humanitarian basis after it emerged that his sister and her husband are critically-ill after suffering from COVID-19.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi wanted to go abroad to visit his ailing sister but his name was included in the no-fly list on the recommendation of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is facing two graft cases. A case is related to the “dubious” awarding of a liquefied natural gas import contract while the other allegations are related to misuse of authority when he made appointments in the PSO.
In November last year, in pursuance of the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Nov 16 verdict on ex-premier Nawaz Sharif’s travel abroad, the Ministry of Interior issued a memorandum giving him one-time permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.
However, since then the former premier has not returned back from London and has been declared an absconder by the Islamabad court.
