Five ambassadors appointed by PML-N surrender charge

Five foreign ambassadors who were appointed during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) tenure relinquished their offices on Saturday.

According to reports, Pakistan’s high commissioner to Canada Tariq Azeem Khan and Pakistan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Khan Husham bin Siddique have left their charge. Pakistan’s ambassadors to Morocco, Cuba and Serbia have also handed over their charges to their second-in-command at the respective embassies.

Earlier on Oct 4, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had announced that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had decided to remove political appointees from key ambassadorial positions across the world. The list included the name of Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Ali Jahangir Siddiqui who is facing charges regarding the role of his company – Azgard Nine Limited – in the alleged manipulation of shares that resulted in a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.

“Ambassador Ali Siddqui was appointed on political grounds by the outgoing PML-N government therefore it’s best for him to step down from his office himself or the government would be compelled to remove him,” Fawad had said.

However, Ali Siddiqui’s name did not feature in the list of ‘political appointees’ who have surrendered their offices on Saturday.