Pak Army to probe 3 tainted ex-generals

Pakistani military authorities have constituted a court of inquiry to take action against three retired army generals found involved in mismanaging the funds of an army-run transport firm and causing losses of Rs1.8 billion.

The Defence Ministry set up the court of inquiry following persistent demands from the Public Accounts Committee of parliament for action against the three former generals who had served in the National Logistics Cell (NLC).

The move against the three officers was announced by Public Accounts Committee chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan during a meeting of the panel yesterday.

He described the development as a "proud moment". Khan alleged that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had extended the service of a civilian who too was involved in the NLC scam.

The premier’s decision had "dealt a severe blow" to the supremacy of parliamentary monitoring of government departments, he said.

When the parliamentary panel was about to make its final recommendations on the NLC scam in March, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani approached it and sought some time to look into the issue because it involved three senior army officials, Khan said.

The committee waited for the army's response till June but it was not received.

The investigation into the scam had focussed on Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Munir Khan (who headed NLC from January to June 2005), Lt Gen (retired) Mohammad Afzal Muzaffar (who headed the firm from June 2005 to October 2008) and Maj Gen (retired) Khalid Zaheer Akhtar (who was director general from July 2002 to January 2008).