NA reverberates with MPs overseas assets

ISLAMABAD The National Assembly (NA) on Monday revealed that 27 parliamentarians, including NA Speaker Dr Famida Mirza, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh, have assets abroad. Among the 27 parliamentarians are ten senators, said Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Maula Bukhsh Chandio in a written reply to a query asked during the question hour earlier. According to details, Rehman Malik has assets in London, Hafeez Sheikh in the UAE, Muhammad Ishaq Dar in Dubai, Babar Ghauri in Dubai, Gul Muhammad in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Ghufran and Abdul Nabi Bangash in the UAE, former minister for Science and Technology Azam Swati in the USA and the UAE. While the names of the countries where Senator Tariq Azeem and Senator Adnan Khan have their assets were not mentioned in the reply. Similarly, Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Alamgir and Muhammad Tariq Khattak have assets in Dubai, Eng Usman Khan Tarakai and Muhammad Khan Orakzai in Qattar, Muhammad Jamil Malik in Holland, Ch Zahid Iqbal in London, Talat Mahassar in the USA, Khawaja Sohail Mansor in Canada and the UAE, Farhat Muhammad Khan in the USA, Justice (r) Fakhar-un-Nisa Khokar in Dubai, Begum Ishrat Ashraf in the UK, Farahnaz Isphani in the USA and Mrs Asma Arbab Alamgir in Dubai. The names of countries where Speaker National Assembly (NA) Dr Fahmida Mirza, Malik Azmat Khan, Kishan Chand Parwani and Salahuddin have their assets were not mentioned. Regarding the amount available at present in the accounts of parliamentarians, the minister mentioned the names of only eight parliamentarians, including four MNAs. Minster for Finance Hafeez Sheikh has Rs 2.5 million in Washington and Rs 5 million in Dubai, Senator Tariq Azeem has 2172 in the UK, Muhammad Ishaq Dar has UAE Dirham 153,038 in Dubai and Azam Khan Swati has $487.00 in the USA, Munir Khan Orakzai has 12,635 Qatari Rayal in Qatar, Khawaja Muhammad Asif has $20,718 in New York and 74,146 Dirhams in the UAE, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah has 4736 in London and Dr Araish Kumar has $200,000 in Canada It was also mentioned that the reply had been prepared on the basis of information given by the parliamentarians in their annual statement of assets and liabilities for the financial year 2009-10. To another question, Minister Chandio gave the detail of the fees paid to senior advocates in high-profile cases pending before the Supreme Court and foreign courts.

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