Chaudhry Nisar reviews matter of blacklisted US citizen

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the interior ministry, police and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The US national was blacklisted from Pakistan in 2011 on charges of espionage.

The federal minister had on Saturday suspended staff of immigration shift including a Federal Investigation Agency’s Assistant Director employed on the airport for granting immigration permission to the black-listed American citizen and issuing visa of Pakistan to him.

He also directed the officials posted at Pakistani embassy in the Houston to respond on the incident. He inquired as why a black-listed citizen was issued a visa to enter into Pakistan and who gave this permission.

Matthew Brett had been arrested in the past over his alleged involvement for spying about the details of nuclear programme.

The minister had constituted a team under the supervision of an additional secretary interior for investigation into the matter which will present the detailed report until Monday.

Nisar also directed to constitute a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) under the chairmanship of SP Investigation Capt (r) Ilyas which would also include officials of FIA, Intelligence Bureau, and Inter-Services Intelligence, to probe the matter.

According to the details, a US Citizen reached Islamabad Airport on Saturday morning, who was expelled from Pakistan few years ago over his involvement in suspected activities.

The emigration staff posted on the airport showed negligence and allowed him to enter in Pakistan despite his name on the black-list, an interior ministry statement said.

A case has also been registered against the US citizen over violation of the immigration rules.

The minister for interior has directed the high officials of his ministry to investigate whether the black-listed US citizen was permitted mistakenly or is there any other reason behind it.