Thursday, 14 January, 2021 I 29 Jumada Al-Awwal, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 196 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition
Broadsheet's money laundering revelation 'tip of iceBerg': pm imran
ISLAMABAD
a
sTAFF RePORT
day after the government announced a ministerial probe into the claims of money laundering on a massive scale made by the chief of a United Kingdom-based asset recovery firm, Prime Minister Imran on Wednesday termed the revelations as "tip of the iceberg". Broadsheet LLC, registered in the Isle of Man, was hired in 2000 by the government of President Pervez Musharraf to track down foreign assets acquired by the country's political elite, including the Sharif family, through alleged ill-gotten wealth. Last week, an interview of nowdefunct firm's chief executive officer (CEO) Kaveh Moussavi accusing deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif of
approaching him through a frontman with a bribe to drop the probe into his foreign assets made a splash in the media. In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Imran said that the same elite had earlier been exposed by the 2016 Panama Papers. "Now Broadsheet revelations have again exposed the massive scale of our ruling elites corruption & money laundering," he said and added: "These elites cannot hide behind the 'victimisation' card on these international revelations". The premier noted that the revelations exposed what he had been saying in his "24-year fight against corruption" which he said was "the biggest threat to the country's progress". "These elites come to power & plunder the country. They do money laundering to stash their ill-gotten gains
abroad, safe from domestic prosecution. Then they use their political clout to get NROs." he said. "That is how they kept their plundered wealth safe." Imran further noted that as a consequence [of this plunder of public coffers], the nation suffered. "Not only is the nation's wealth stolen by the elites, taxpayer money, paid for recovering this wealth, is wasted because of NROs. These revelations [are the] tip of the iceberg," he said, demanding "complete transparency from Broadsheet on our elites' money laundering and on who stopped investigations". The tweets come days after Moussavi, during an interview with a UK-based web channel of a Pakistan national, claimed of being in possession of evidence of money laundering by some other Pakistan nationals while accusing Sharif of exerting influence on the accountability process. During a press conference Tuesday, Minister for Information and Broadcast Senator Shibli Faraz said that Moussavi's claims had validated Prime Minister Imran's longstanding belief of previous “corrupt” rulers looting the country. Faraz further said that the government hoped to share the committee’s findings into the claims with the public soon. The committee, he said, would look into how the country’s wealth was looted, as well as whether a cousin of Sharif [Anjum Dar] had tried to get the assets recovery firm to stop its probe into his accounts. “We don’t deal with crooks,” the information minister quoted Moussavi as saying. He also reiterated Moussavi’s claim that a list of 200 names had been given to the firm for investigation, but it was subsequently slashed without explanation.
COAS assures justice to families of Mach massacre victims Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday met the families of the victims of Mach massacre and said that the perpetrators of the killings “shall be brought to justice”. On January 3, 11 miners belonging to the Shia Hazara community were brutally massacred in the Mach coalfield area. Armed assailants had entered their residential compound early in the morning where they were sleeping, and blindfolded and trussed them up before executing them. The attack was later claimed by militant Islamic State (IS) group. Relatives and residents started a protest against the killings on the same day, arranging the miners’ coffins on the Western Bypass on the outskirts of Quetta and refusing to bury them in a symbolic gesture until the prime minister’s visit and assurance of protection. The protests later spread to other parts of the country, including Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi, where demonstrators blocked several important roads, disrupting traffic. After a deadlock lasting for nearly a week, talks succeeded between the protesters and the government, leading to the end of the protests and burial of the miners on Saturday. During the day-long visit, the chief of army staff was given a detailed security briefing at the Southern Command headquarters and interacted with a large gathering of the Hazara
community, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said. The army chief was apprised during the briefing about the prevailing security challenges in the province and the measures taken to deal with them, including border management along the Pak- Afghan and Pak-Iran borders. Gen Bajwa spent time with the bereaved families of the Mach incident’s victims and shared their grief. He “assured them that perpetrators of this heinous incident shall be brought to justice and blood of the martyrs will not go waste”, the military’s media wing said. Later, while addressing the garrison officers, the COAS appreciated their preparedness and efforts for ensuring peace and stability in Balochistan “despite difficulties of terrain and distances involved”. “Balochistan is in sharp focus of our enemies due to its strategic potential,” Gen Bajwa was quoted as saying on the occasion. He said that Balochistan was the future of Pakistan and progress and prosperity of the province was linked to progress of the country. “The disruptive efforts by hostile forces won’t be allowed to succeed,” the army chief emphasised, saying the security, stability and prosperity of Balochistan will be ensured “to the hilt”. Earlier, on arrival in Quetta, Gen Bajwa was received by Commander Southern Command Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali. news desk