Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday said the government has taken serious notice of issuance of a visa to blacklisted US national Mathew Barret and a departmental inquiry is also underway at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

However, the minister confirmed that Matthew Barrett, the blacklisted US national who was deported in 2011, was not a spy and the same had been confirmed by a joint investigation team (JIT) report. “The JIT report has confirmed that Matthew Barrett is not a spy,” said the interior minister said while responding to a point of order raised by PTI legislator Dr Shereen Mazari. The minister also said that Barrett would be deported within the next two or three days. The minister said Barrett was arrested by security personnel in 2011 from Fatah Jang. He said his father-in-law, who was a lawyer, defended him in the Supreme Court but he was deported on the order of the Supreme Court.

Nisar stated he has asked for a report from the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) regarding the lapse in security witnessed in Barrett’s case. He further added the FIA has been instructed to ensure such a security lapse could not occur again in the future. The US national had been issued a visa within 24 hours adding that Mathew had obtained the visa on account of the negligence of the visa officer.

Elaborating on Barrett’s arrest, Nisar said the official who cleared him had been arrested and would be prosecuted under law, while the official who caught him has been rewarded and given a letter of appreciation from the interior minister.

Barrett was arrested in 2011 while taking photographs of sensitive installations in the Jhang Bhattar area near Islamabad. Maps of sensitive installations had also been recovered from him at the time. Though his visa was valid until Dec 11, 2011, at the time of his arrest in May, its term was reduced at the request of an intelligence agency to June 4 2011 and Barrett was asked to leave Pakistan. But instead of going back, he had gone into hiding and was arrested at a residence in sector E-11 days after his visa expired.

About the Quetta incident, the interior minister said that suspects had been arrested in connection to the recent acts of terrorism that had taken place in Quetta. Some arrests had been made related to the recent Civil Hospital Quetta blast and a few connections had also been identified. Nisar revealed that some fingerprints had been obtained from the scene of the blast; these belonged to a victim and not the terrorist himself. Nisar further said that a boy was made out to be a suspect but in reality, he had nothing to do with the attack. He stated that the pictures obtained from the scene of the blast had also not been fruitful in identifying the attacker.

Chaudhry Nisar further revealed that the head of the suspect was found but it could not be identified due to the condition it was in and no advancements could be made in the DNA of the suspect as well. Talking about the National Action Plan committee, Nisar said it would ensure implementation on the plan and revealed that it had been decided to convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers in the next couple of days.

Minister of State for Religious Affairs Pir Aminul Hasnat Shah told the House that the government has prepared a comprehensive bill to eliminate printing and recording errors in the publication of the Holy Quran. He said the bill would be presented before the Cabinet for approval and the provincial governments will also be taken on board on the matter in order to ensure effective implementation of the legislation.

The House will now meet today (Wednesday) at 10:30 am.