KARACHI: The unexplained visits of two senior leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to the United Arab Emirates in a short span of time have fuelled speculation that Dubai-based retired Gen Pervez Musharraf has intensified efforts for the unification of different factions of the party.

The city on Saturday was abuzz with reports that senior MQM leader Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui flew to Dubai on Friday where he met the former military dictator who is more than willing to unite the Dr Farooq Sattar-led MQM and the Pak Sarzameen Party led by former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal.

Dr Siddiqui returned home on Saturday morning.

While those representing Mr Musharraf on the social media remained tight-lipped about his political engagements in the UAE, the MQM promptly denied the meeting.

A spokesperson for the MQM, Aminul Haq, rejected reports of the meeting and said Dr Siddiqui was in Pakistan. “He did not meet any politician, including Gen Pervez Musharraf.”

He, however, confirmed that Dr Siddiqui, MQM’s deputy parliamentary party leader in the National Assembly, visited Dubai for “less than 24 hours”, but said his trip was strictly personal in nature.

Before Dr Siddiqui, MQM-Pakistan head Dr Sattar also visited Dubai and returned on Friday. He told reporters at Karachi airport that he met neither Mr Musharraf nor former governor of Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad during his stay in the UAE.

A couple of days ago, the MQM, however, confirmed that its leader Khwaja Izharul Hasan met the former military dictator in Dubai after emergence of a picture of Mr Musharraf with the leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly.

The meeting took place after Ahmed Raza Kasuri, a trusted aide to Mr Musharraf, gave a formula that different factions of the MQM, other than the one being led by Altaf Hussain, accept the former president as their leader.

The MQM-Pakistan had rejected the proposal.

Money laundering probe against Altaf

On Saturday, the Altaf Hussain-led MQM released the copy of a letter of the UK Metropolitan Police sent to the lawyers of Mr Hussain and his two aides — Tariq Mir and Mohammad Anwar — in which the police formally informed them about the dropping of their money laundering investigation.

The letter reads: “I am writing to you to confirm in writing that as a result of receiving advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), no further action will be taken against your clients in relations to the money laundering investigation they have been subject of.”

A month ago, Scotland Yard announced wrapping up its money laundering investigation against Mr Hussain, Mr Mir, Mr Anwar and businessman Sarfraz Merchant (who is not associated to the MQM) after the CPS advised that “there is not a realistic prospect of a successful prosecution under UK law”. It had also decided to return over £500,000 in cash — seized from Mr Hussain’s residence, MQM’s international secretariat and the home of Mr Merchant — to the parties concerned.

However, the Met Police letter, dated Nov 7, did not say anything about the return of the seized money, as the last line of the letter was redacted ostensibly by the MQM. Other things redacted from the letter are the names of the solicitor, the officer who wrote the letter, his signature, email address, etc.

Nadeem Nusrat, the MQM-London convener, said in a statement that the decision was taken following years-long investigation during which hundreds of witnesses were interviewed and all the evidences were taken into consideration. “The decision of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police has vindicated the principled stand Mr Hussain and the MQM had taken from day one that they have not done any wrong,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2016