Sharif to face ‘high treason’ charge

ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 (PTI) — Deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with several other senior functionaries of the previous government will face charges of "high treason" and "sedition" as per a formal complaint lodged with the police in Karachi, it was reported today.

The complaint has been lodged with airport police station for the registration of a case of "high treason" and "sedition" against Mr Sharif for conspiring a mutiny in the armed forces and refusing to allow a PIA plane carrying the Army Chief, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to land at Karachi airport on October 12, endangering the lives of more than 200 passengers, The Pakistan Observer said quoting official sources.

The complaint was lodged nearly two weeks after the dramatic developments when the Army turned the tables on Mr Sharif by refusing to accept his move to sack the Army Chief and staging a coup to overthrow his 32-month-old government.

The report said that the airport police had registered an FIR against Mr Nawaz Sharif, Syed Ghaus Ali Shah, Mr Sharif’s Adviser on Sindh Affairs, Rana Maqbool, former IGP of Sindh, Mohammad Akbar Arain, former DIG Karachi, Choudhury Mohammad Sharif, former Deputy Director Karachi Airport, and Zafar Cheema, former SHO airport police station.

The FIR was lodged after investigations into the "high treason" and "sedition" charges against the accused, the report said.

The source also revealed that after the registration of the FIR, it was sealed and sent to the "highest authority" for necessary action and proper interrogation of the accused by a special team of investigators.

The army authorities had already set up a special investigation team to probe the events of October 12 at the Karachi airport when the PIA plane was initially not allowed to land for nearly an hour and could land only after the Army took control of the airport with barely six minutes of fuel left in it.

The present SHO of the airport police station neither confirmed nor denied the registration of the FIR against Mr Sharif and others, but confirmed that some legal documents had been completed in this regard and sent to the higher authorities, the report said.

The officer also conceded that prima facie a case against the former Premier and his associates under "sedition" and "high treason" charges had become imminent, but due to some legal bottlenecks, it was being delayed.

The new DIG of Karachi held a meeting with the SSPs of five districts of Karachi city to consider methods and system for carrying out investigations into the whole episode, the paper said.

An Army spokesman had earlier confirmed that a probe into the events at the Karachi airport had been initiated amidst indications that orders to refuse landing permission to the plane were issued from the Premier’s house.

The military authorities have taken into "protective custody" Mr Sharif and most of others involved in the events after the overthrow of the goverment.

The authorities have not yet disclosed the whereabouts of Mr Sharif and his younger brother, the former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is also in "protective custody".

ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan’s powerful fundamentalist leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Tuesday criticised the composition of the just set up National Security Council (NSC) by military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf and warned the army that it would be "harmful", if it remained in power for long.

The Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain, who was the first to pick up cudgels against the new military rulers of the country, told reporters here that the NSC announced by Gen Musharraf "is not a new team but a status quo team".

"It is a team of status quo which cannot affect any change in the country. These people had been a part of the corrupt system." Qazi Hussain, who only two days ago had been banned from entry in the North West Frontier Province, said.

The Jamaat leader also warned that it would be "harmful for the army if it remained in power for long" and went on to add, "For the time being we have decided not to create impediments in the way of the new government to enable it to carry out accountability".

Appreciating the ouster of the previous Nawaz Sharif government, Qazi Hussain said that army should only confine itself to the accountability process and then return to the barracks but, "If they fail to punish the corrupt, we would create problems for the new regime.

DUBAI (DPA): Gen Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday met Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to inform him about the situation in Pakistan and the new policies of the government.

In his first foreign trip since he seized power in a bloodless coup on October 12, Gen Musharraf said that he was looking for government support from Riyadh.

He said he will continue to head the government until he is able to improve the economic situation of the 140 million Pakistanis.

He said he wanted to put an end to corruption before returning to democratic elections.

The sources said Gen Musharraf discussed with King Fahd the situation which led to the coup in Pakistan, the objectives of his government as well the situation in Kashmir and Afghanistan.