Abu Dhabi Police are holding a former oil and gas chief wanted in Pakistan in connection with an US$850 million (Dh3.12?bn) embezzlement, the Pakistani Embassy said.
Tauqir Sadiq was arrested on Tuesday. “We can confirm that Tauqir Sadiq has been taken into custody here in the UAE,” an embassy spokesman said.
Later, the Pakistan Embassy said it was in constant communication with Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (Nab) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan as well as UAE authorities regarding the repatriation of Mr Sadiq.
“The accused Mr Touqir Sadiq is still in the custody of the UAE authorities and matters pertaining to his repatriation to Pakistan are still under process by the UAE authorities in consultation with Nab and the Embassy of Pakistan, Abu Dhabi,” it said.
Mr Sadiq is accused of taking kickbacks and commissions worth more than Dh3bn while head of Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority between 2009 and 2011.
The allegations made against him could also lead to a criminal case against the Pakistani prime minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf.
Mr Ashraf was water and power minister at the time. Mr Sadiq fled Pakistan a year ago.
Zafar Iqbal, a spokesman for Nab, said Mr Sadiq could return to Pakistan in the next few days after legal formalities are completed.
The next supreme court hearing in the case is due today.
On January 24 the court registered a case against Mr Ashraf, the interior minister Rehman Malik, and another senior member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party over Mr Sadiq’s appointment in 2009 and his absconding.
The court has also ordered Mr Ashraf’s arrest over another corruption investigation from his tenure as water and power minister.
Members of the government, however, have accused judges of a witch hunt against the administration, which in March this year will become the first elected civilian government in Pakistan to complete a full term in office.
In June last year, the supreme court sacked Mr Ashraf’s predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, over his refusal to ask Switzerland to reopen corruption cases against the president, Asif Ali Zardari.
nhanif@thenational.ae
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Get Out
Director: Jordan Peele
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Four stars
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Essentials
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Seattle from Dh6,755 return in economy and Dh24,775 in business class.
The cruise
UnCruise Adventures offers a variety of small-ship cruises in Alaska and around the world. A 14-day Alaska’s Inside Passage and San Juans Cruise from Seattle to Juneau or reverse costs from $4,695 (Dh17,246), including accommodation, food and most activities. Trips in 2019 start in April and run until September.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development