Former Pakistani PM Abbasi arrested: anti-graft agency

Friday, 19 July 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Islamabad (Reuters): Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency arrested a former prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, on Thursday, a spokesman for the agency, the National Accountability Board (NAB), said.

Pakistani Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan

He gave no details on the grounds for the arrest but a copy of the arrest warrant shared by Abbasi’s PML-N party, indicated that he was accused of “corruption and corrupt practices”.

Abbasi, who served for less than a year following the resignation of former premier Nawaz Sharif in 2017, was arrested while on his way to a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore.

“They said they were from the NAB and took away Shahid Khaqan Abbasi with them,” Ahsan Iqbal, a senior PML-N parliamentarian told a television station.

Last year, the NAB ordered an inquiry into both Abbasi and Sharif over a liquefied natural gas terminal project. Sharif is serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted in a separate corruption case.