Two ex-Pak PMs, journo face court

Two former prime ministers of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, facing allegations of treason yesterday appeared before a court along with a prominent journalist in a hearing to determine whether the case should go to trial.

The hearing was adjourned until October 22.

The case related to an interview Sharif gave to the English daily Dawn in which he was quoted as suggesting the Pakistani state played a role in the militant attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people in 2008.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan intelligence agency of helping the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group carry out the attack. Pakistan has denied any state involvement, but its inaction against LeT leaders remains a major stumbling block to improving relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Dawn assistant editor Cyril Almeida, who conducted the interview, had faced arrest if he failed to appear before the court and had been barred from leaving the country. Both the arrest orders and travel restrictions were removed yesterday.

"The court removed his name from the (exit control list), withdrew his arrest warrant and directed us to submit a reply on Oct. 22," Almeida's lawyer Ahmad Rauf told Reuters, while surrounded by activists protesting threats to media freedom in Pakistan.

Sharif was removed from office last year by the Supreme Court over corruption allegation and was sentenced earlier this year to 10 years in prison.