The Asian Age

MQM chief mulls return to Pak

■ UK freezes his accounts ■ No lawyer willing to represent Altaf in UK

- SHAFQAT ALI with agency inputs

MQM chief Altaf Hussain is contemplat­ing returning to Pakistan from selfexile after the British government froze all his bank accounts in the UK.

Altaf Hussain, the founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, told a private television channel on Saturday night that no lawyer was willing to represent him in the UK in the money laundering and other cases being investigat­ed against him by British authoritie­s.

“I face money laundering and other cases, which have not been presented in court so far. And without any proof, the British government has sealed all my bank accounts,” he said.

He said the British government could put him in jail and kill him, but he would “continue to speak the truth”.

“If I have to die, then why not in Pakistan?”

Regarding his national identity card, Mr Hussain said he has warts on his legs and feet and cannot walk properly.

However, he managed to come to the MQM secretaria­t in London where National Database and Registrati­on Authority officials carried out the procedure.

The Karachi- based MQM represents the Urdu- speaking Muhajirs who migrated from undivided India during Partition. Mr Hussain has lived in the UK in selfexile since 1992 after surviving an assassinat­ion attempt in Pakistan.

His parents had moved from Agra during the Partition and settled in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Sindh provincial government led by the Pakistan People’s Party has approached the federal government for a package of Rs 27 billion to address the law and order problem issue Karachi. At a Cabinet meeting, provincial ministers, advisers and special assistants to the chief minister — both belonging to the PPP and its coalition partner the Muttahida Qaumi Movement — endorsed the decisions made at an earlier meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

 ??  ?? Altaf Hussain
Altaf Hussain

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