Govt considering removal of Tariq Fatemi, says Dar

WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed that government was considering removal of the Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi from his post in aftermath of the Dawn Leaks report, ARY News reported.

The finance minister has been in Washington where he would meet delegates of various international organizations particularly International Monetary Fund (IMF) to brief the lending institution about economic reforms in Pakistan.

Talking to media in Washington, he said that the government considering replacement of Tariq Fatemi, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs, without specifying any name to replace him. “Albeit, the inquiry report did not recommend dismissal or removal but even if he is removed then it should not be assumed a big issue”, the minister added.

It should be recalled here that Dawn Leaks inquiry report was submitted to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday. The inquiry report revealed that the investigation body did not find any ‘solid proofs’ against then Information Minister Pervez Rasheed who was suspected to have connection in leaking the sensitive information to an English daily.

The government had constituted a four-member commission headed by former Lahore High Court Judge Amir Raza with a representative of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Military Intelligence (MI) to inquire into the matter.

The interior ministry had added the name of Cyril Almeida a leading columnist of the Dawn newspaper in the Exit Control List (ECL), over the article he wrote about an alleged rift between the government and the military.

The ministry on October 14 last year lifted travel ban on Almeida as a ‘good-will gesture’ but said that an inquiry into the ‘inaccurate and fabricated’ article would continue.

The military’s press wing had issued a separate statement calling the article a ‘breach of national security’.