ISLAMABAD: 

Officials from the party of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan say he has been arrested as he appeared in a court in the capital, Islamabad, to face charges in multiple graft cases. Fawad Chaudhry, a senior official with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said the 72-year-old Khan was arrested on Tuesday on the premises of the court by agents from the country’s anti-corruption body, the National Accountability Bureau.

Mr. Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April last year. He has claimed his ouster was illegal and a Western conspiracy and has campaigned against the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, demanding early elections.

Chaudhry said Khan was dragged out of the court and into a police vehicle. He said the former premier is now in the custody of the security forces. He denounced the arrest as “an abduction.”

Pakistan’s independent Geo TV broadcast images of Khan being pulled by security forces towards an armoured vehicle, which took him away.

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Oman’s Ministry of Labour has said that expatriates leaving Oman do not have to pay the fines they have accumulated during their residency in the Sultanate, provided they leave the country permanently.

“Expatriates will be exempted from fees and fines resulting from work permits for non-Omani workforce, provided that they leave the Sultanate for good,” the ministry said in a statement. “Private sector firms are also allowed to terminate the contracts of their non-Omani employees, as long as these establishments commit to pay all workers’ dues and that they will leave the Sultanate forever.”

The rule is valid until the end of the year. It is in accordance with the decisions issued by the Supreme Committee for Tackling COVID-19.

Indians topped the maximum number of arrivals and departures for the month of July, clocking a total number of 30,718 who departed Oman in July and 699 arriving into Oman.

Pakistan came second in this regard with a total of 10,151 leaving Oman and 163 arriving, followed by Bangladesh which recorded 1340 departing and 22 coming in.

Oman has announced resumption of normal flight services from October 1, with Oman’s own carriers, Oman Air and Salam Air, announcing their schedule of operations and resumption of services in a phased manner.

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Pakistan on Saturday expressed their readiness to India to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims on June 29, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi made this announcement on Twitter.

As places of worship open up across the world, Pakistan prepares to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims, conveying to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) June 27, 2020

India temporarily closed the pilgrimage on March 16 in view of the coronavirus Pandemic.

India and Pakistan in October 2019 signed an agreement that guarantees Indian pilgrims visa-free access to the corridor to travel to the holy site in Pakistan.The 4.2 km corridor connects the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Punjab with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab.

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