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Pakistan Arrests Ex-Prime Minister for Graft

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Anti-corruption officials in Pakistan have arrested former
   Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allegedly evading an ongoing
   investigation into corruption charges against him.

   The former Pakistani leader is the latest in a series of high-profile
   opposition politicians targeted under the government of Prime Minister
   Imran Khan who accuses his predecessors of corruption and stashing away
   billions of dollars to foreign bank accounts.

   Abbasi together with several members of his opposition Pakistan Muslim
   League-N (PML-N) was on his way to address a news conference in the
   eastern city of Lahore on Thursday, when he was taken into custody by a
   team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the state
   anti-corruption body.

   Authorities later took the former prime minister to Islamabad, where he
   will appear before an anti-corruption court on Friday, said NAB
   officials. Abbasi served as prime minister from August 2017 to May
   2018.

   NAB officials explained that the arrest stemmed from a case related to
   the award of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract when
   Abbasi was serving as the federal minister for petroleum and natural
   resources. They said Abbasi had been repeatedly summoned for
   questioning sessions, including one on Thursday, but he did not appear.

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