Islamabad: Political turmoil continued to
grip Pakistan as a top Federal Minister was forced to appear
before a court on Saturday following an arrest warrant issued
against him in revived graft cases and to tackle the crisis
President Asif Ali Zardari chaired a meeting of ruling PPP.
The court withdrew the non-bailable arrest warrant for
federal Law Minister Babar Awan, a beneficiary of an amnesty
scrapped by the Supreme Court, after he appeared before the
judge and said he would attend future hearings of a case
against him.
Awan is among several ministers who have been affected
by the striking down of the NRO by the apex court.
An anti-corruption court in Karachi has directed
Interior Minister Rehman Malik to appear before it on January
8 while authorities barred Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed
Mukhtar from travelling to China on an official visit on
Thursday after the reopening of a graft probe against him.
In a bid to head-off what could be worst political
crisis of his 15-month in power, Zardari summoned a meeting of
the executive committee of his ruling Pakistan People's Party
to contemplate measures to save his government.
The crisis meeting took place as Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani suspended the Interior Secretary and three other
officials after authorities barred Defence Minister Chaudhry
Ahmed Mukhtar from travelling to China.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, December 20, 2009, 00:13