Sharif charged with treason

ISLAMABAD, NOV 11: A criminal case, which carries the death penalty, has been registered against deposed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sh...

ISLAMABAD, NOV 11: A criminal case, which carries the death penalty, has been registered against deposed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and five other aides for attempted murder, hijacking, criminal conspiracy and common intent with the airport police in Karachi.

The FIR was registered yesterday with the police station by one Lt Col Atiquzzaman Kiani of the Pakistan Army of Five Corps.

Sharif8217;s aides included, the former advisor to the Prime Minister of Sindh Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Inspector General of Police, Sindh Rana Maqbool, chairman of the Pakistan International Airlines Shahid Khaqan Abbassi and the Director General of Civil Aviation Amainullah Chaudhry.

The case was related with the October 12 episode when a PIA flight carrying Gen Pervez Musharraf and 200 other passengers was denied landing at the Karachi airport even as the plane had hardly seven minutes of fuel left. Though the plane later managed to land and thus a great mishap was averted.

According to the FIR, PIA flight PK 805, coming to Karachi from Colombo carrying Chief of Army Staff Gen Pervez Musharraf with 200 passengers, was denied landing at the airport and to ensure it, barricades were erected on the runway besides putting off all the flights at the tarmac.

The aircraft was running out of fuel and only seven minutes flying time fuel was left when the captain of the said aircraft was asked to take the aircraft away and land at Nawabshah. All the persons including the deposed PM and five of his aides were arrested the same night of October 12 and since then they are in detention.

To India over my dead body: Musharraf
When the Pakistan International Airlines plane carrying General Pervez Musharraf home from Colombo was denied permission to land by the Karachi control tower, India was definitely not on the dismissed Army chief8217;s list of favoured destinations. 8220;This can happen only over my dead body,8221; the Chief of Army Staff COAS told the pilot when he was informed that the plane had just about enough fuel to reach India. The Ahmedabad airport across the Rann of Kutch, was the closest from the port city of Karachi with facilities to handle jet passenger aircraft.

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Gen Musharraf said the pilot told me: 8220;Sir, we have one hour8217;s fuel left and with this kind of fuel we can go to India or Muscat. And, he said, we had been ordered to fly at 15,000 to 20,000 feet. And then he said he was in the process of diving. We are actually now left with forty-five minutes fuel and we can only go to India. 8220;I told him over my dead body. We are not going to India,8221; the chief executive told APP.