Pak lifts siege on UK staff

The British High Commission expressed outrage and by today police had agreed to release the 26 men and nine women.

Hubco is embroiled in a legal battle with the government over power rates. The company, 25 per cent of which is owned by British national power, is appealing a court decision last week ordering it to cut its electricity rates by more than half.

"We are obviously relieved that a rather unpleasant situation has ended,"said Dan Cowell, security manager reached by telephone on the site.

He said policemen on the site told the workers at 10 am local time that they were free to go.

A BritishHigh Commission spokesman, who could not be identified by name, said that everyone was pleased that a swift and amicable solution had been found.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government has been feuding with 21 different privately run power companies, accusing them of overcharging for electricity after paying large bribes to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto when she was in power.

Bhutto was dismissed as prime minister in 1996 on charges of rampant corruption and economic mismanagement. She has denied all charges.

Sharif has ordered all power contracts renegotiated and has been accused of harassing the power producers. Sealing the Hubco site has been the government’s most extreme action to date.

"The police who sealed the site claimed they were acting on orders from the very highest level." The Lahore High Court on May 17 ordered Hubco to cut its rates by more than half, which meant a monthly loss in revenue of $1.6 million.

The court ruling triggered a huge fall in Hubco shares on the Karachistock exchange.