ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry
Nisar Ali Khan confirmed on Friday that Matthew Barrett, the blacklisted
US national who was deported in 2011, is not a spy and the same has
been confirmed by a joint investigation team (JIT) report.
"The JIT report has confirmed that Matthew Barrett is not a spy," said the interior minister during a press conference.
Nisar also stated that Barrett will be deported with in the next two or three days.
"We will deport him (Barrett) in the next two or three days keeping the JIT report's findings in view."
Nisar
stated he has asked for a report from the Federal Investigation
Authority (FIA) regarding the lapse in security witnessed in Barrett's
case. He further added the FIA has been instructed to ensure such a
security lapse does not occur again in the future.
Elaborating
on Barrett's arrest, Nisar said the official who cleared him has been
arrested and will be prosecuted under law, while the official who caught
him has been rewarded and given a letter of appreciation from the
interior minister.
Barrett's arrest in 2011
Barrett was arrested in 2011 while taking photographs of
sensitive installations in the Jhang Bhattar area near Islamabad. Maps
of sensitive installations had also been recovered from him at the time.
Though
his visa was valid until Dec 11, 2011, at the time of his arrest in
May, its term was reduced at the request of an intelligence agency to
June 4, 2011 and Barrett was asked to leave Pakistan. But instead of
going back, he had gone into hiding and was arrested at a residence in
sector E-11 days after his visa expired.
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