recorder report
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif Wednesday said the US Air and Defence Attaché Col Joseph Emanuel Hall was in Pakistan and appropriate action would be taken against him for accidentally killing a young motorist on April 7.
Speaking on the floor of National Assembly during the Question Hour, the minister said the US Embassy in Islamabad had also assured full cooperation in the investigation.
The US diplomat had hit the motorcyclists at a traffic signal at the intersection of Margalla Road and 7th Avenue, killing one, Atiq Baig, on the spot and the pillion rider faced multiple injuries including the fractures.
On Monday the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police requested the Ministry of Interior to place the US military attaché’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL), restricting his travel out of Pakistan.
To another question, the minister said there were five Pakistani nationals being held in Guantanamo Bay, one of them was co-accused in the trial related to 9/11 incident and other was pleaded guilty to conspiracy and murder, while remaining three had not been charged of any crime yet.
“Our Mission is in contact with the State Department Special Envoy for Guantanamo Bay closure and regularly seeks status of these five Pakistani nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” he said.
The minister also informed the House that Pakistan had consular access to them as well and the Mission in Washington had been coordinating with the US State Department after consultation with the Ministry as well as National Crisis Management Cell, FIA and Ministry of Interior to discuss legal options for repatriation of Pakistani nationals from Guantanamo Bay prison.
“We also obtained complete details from the US side of Pakistani prisoners currently detained in the US and explored the possibility of their repatriation in consultation with legal experts,” he said.
The minister also claimed that former army chief and President General Pervez Musharraf picked up and transferred Pakistanis, suspected to be terrorists, to the US in return for bounty money.
The foreign minister further stated that Pakistan had been strongly highlighting the Kashmir dispute at the international forums, including the UN, Human Rights Commission and the OIC.
Responding to another question, he said the Prime Minister met with the UN Secretary-General in China and discussed Indian atrocities in the occupied valley. He added that Pakistani diplomatic missions abroad are also exposing India’s state terrorism to the world.
About repatriation of Afghan refugees, he said Pakistan wished for the honourable and dignified return of Afghan refugees to their homeland and there were currently 54 refugee camps in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which were used by terrorists to merge in.
Pakistan had a neutral role when it came to the Syrian conflict and sought resolution of the issue through dialogue, he informed the House.
To another question, it was revealed through a reply that more than 8.5 million Pakistanis are settled abroad at present, adding that since January 2013, more than 3.7 million Pakistanis have moved abroad.
Earlier, laughter echoed in the National Assembly after PTI leader Shireen Mazari referred to Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq as ‘Yaar’ (friend).
When she finished her speech on the floor of the Lower House of Parliament regarding human trafficking, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Shaikh Salahuddin drew the speaker’s attention to the matter. Salahuddin claimed the PTI leader addressed Sadiq using the colloquial sub-continental term ‘Yaar’. The matter was later settled when the Speaker said that Mazari was his younger sister and asked her not to use the word again during proceedings of the assembly.
