ISLAMABAD: After pictures of his Saudi Arabian iqama (residence permit) were circulated on social media, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has confirmed holding the kingdom’s residence permit for two years, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday.
“I worked in Madinah Monawarah from 2004-06 and afterwards retained my iqama without receiving any compensation to facilitate my frequent travel to the kingdom. Hence, it’s not an illegal act,” he said on Twitter.
The minister claimed that he hadn’t concealed his iqama. “It is declared,” he maintained. The iqama surfaced a day after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s UAE iqama came to the fore.
The residence permits of Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, Murad Ali Shah, Sohail Anwar Siyal and Sharjeel Memon have also surfaced on the social media, showing their employment with different companies in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Published in Daily Times, July 27th 2017.
