ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday revealed that former spymaster Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, who is currently facing court martial proceedings, had apologised to him for subjecting him to victimisation.

Calling the arrest of former ISI chief a miracle, Mr Dar said: “I am among the victims of Faiz Hameed.” However, he added, the retired general had tendered an apology for his “excesses”.

Mr Dar did not give details of excesses blamed on the ex-spymaster.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Gen Faiz and three other retired officers were taken into custody for allegedly victimising the owner of a private housing society in the federal capital.

Gohar says ex-spymaster had no contact with PTI after his retirement

On the arrest of Gen Faiz, Mr Dar said such a development had taken place for the first time in the country’s history, adding that the arrest had finally brought to an end a project that had started in 2011.

In a statement, Mr Dar, who also holds the portfolio of foreign ministry, said the PTI dharna in 2014 had failed but it had adversely affected the country’s economy.

In July 2017, the Supreme Court had disqualified both Mr Dar and Nawaz Sharif from holding public office, following the publication of Panama Papers.

In September 2017, a NAB court indicted Mr Dar in the Panama Papers corruption case for having wealth beyond his known sources of income but in October that year he fell ill while in Saudi Arabia and left for the United Kingdom for medical treatment.

In December 2017, an accountability court declared Mr Dar proclaimed offender after he repeatedly failed to appear before the court.

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After the change of government, Mr Dar was appointed minister of finance in September 2022.

In April this year, he was given the additional charge of deputy prime minister.

Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told media persons that Gen Faiz’s arrest was an internal matter of the army in which he and others should not interfere.

He said that following the retirement of the ISI chief, the PTI had no contact with him.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2024