Pak lawmaker not allowed to leave country for security meet

Mohsin Dawar was denied permission to leave the country, said a report, adding that he was stopped at the Islamabad International Airport as he was leaving for Tajikistan to attend the 'Herat Security Dialogue'.

Member of Pakistan's National Assembly and National Democratic Movement leader Mohsin Dawar was denied permission to leave the country, said a report, adding that he was stopped at the Islamabad International Airport as he was leaving for Tajikistan to attend the 'Herat Security Dialogue'. The 'Herat Security Dialogue' is an annual international conference held by the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies. According to the News International, the minister was stopped from leaving the country because his name was included in the Exit Control List.

The Federal Investigation Agency stopped the Pakistani lawmaker from boarding the flight to Tajikistan, the report said. However, The News International quoted Dawar as claiming that his name had been removed from the list after the Cabinet's approval two months. "I feel that they were informed in advance," he said.

The National Assembly member added that he was informed that his name had been removed from the ECL, but the officials were told that he should not leave the country, reported The News International. The inclusion of the lawmaker on the ECL had been preceded by registration of complaints against Dawar, Ali Wazir a fellow National Assembly member and some other leaders. They were booked for provocative speech, rioting and some other cases.

The cases against Dawar were registered at Sohrab Goth, Boat Basin and Shah Latif Town police stations in Karachi, The News International reported. According to the report, the said cases were registered under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object), 500 (punishment for defamation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief), and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with the Section 7 (Punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. (ANI)

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