ISLAMABAD: The newly-appointed chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, slapped on Wednesday a three-month ban on foreign visits of bureau’s officials.

The ban, however, would not cover trips to be undertaken in connection with investigation of corruption cases.

The decision was apparently taken by the NAB chairman to speedily dispose of the pending cases.

“A ban for three months has been imposed by Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry on all foreign visits, trainings, seminars and symposia of NAB officers,” said NAB spokesman Ramzan Sajid.

He said all officers had been directed to concentrate on their work in their respective areas to clear backlog of the pending inquiries, investigations and references.

Another senior official confirmed that many scheduled foreign visits of the NAB officers had been cancelled.

The official said that during his visit to the NAB regional headquarters in Rawalpindi on Tuesday the chairman ordered that all mega corruption cases should be disposed of within 15 days. They included cases of Rs22 billion Rental Power Projects scam, Rs82bn Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) cases and Modarba scam.

In two separate scams — the RPPs and Ogra — two former prime ministers — Raja Pervez Ashraf and Yousuf Raza Gilani — can be arrested, sources said.