Pak Minister fired over media leak
islamabad — Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday removed a key minister from his cabinet over a media leak that sparked a rift between his government and the powerful army, his office said.
Pervaiz Rasheed, the information minister, was asked to step down over his alleged role as a source for the report, which said civilian officials had warned the military to stop backing militant proxy fighters abroad.
The article, published in Dawn ,caused an uproar and the journalist who wrote it was briefly hit with a travel ban.
“Evidence available so far points to a lapse on part of Information Minister, who has been directed to step down from office to enable holding of an independent and detailed inquiry,” the statement said.
Sharif’s office reiterated previous denials of the report and termed it a “breach of national security”.
The government has also formed
evidence available so far points to a lapse on part of the Information Minister, who has been directed to step down from office to enable holding of an independent and detailed inquiry PM’s House statement
an inquiry committee to probe the incident. The statement said an inquiry committee comprised senior officers of Inter Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau. The committee had been tasked to clearly apportion blame, identify interests and motives besides exposing all those responsible for the story published in the daily Dawn on October 6 for stern action in the national interest.
The minister’s sacking comes at a sensitive time for the government, as it faces street protests by the opposition over Sharif’s family’s offshore bank accounts which were revealed in the Panama Papers leak.
Pakistan’s powerful military has used the pretext of civil unrest to sweep in and replace elected government three times in the country’s history, and analysts had warned Sharif may need to strike a deal with the army to ensure his survival. — AFP, APP