Former Pakistani PM Abbasi arrested - anti-graft agency

Former Pakistani PM Abbasi arrested - anti-graft agency
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi arrives to attend The Queen's Dinner during The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018. Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool via Reuters Copyright POOL(Reuters)
Copyright POOL(Reuters)
By Reuters
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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's anti-corruption agency arrested a former prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, on Thursday, a spokesman for the agency, the National Accountability Board (NAB), said.

He gave no details on the grounds for the arrest but a copy of the arrest warrant shared by Abbasi's PML-N party, indicated that he was accused of "corruption and corrupt practices".

Abbasi, who served for less than a year following the resignation of former premier Nawaz Sharif in 2017, was arrested while on his way to a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore.

"They said they were from the NAB and took away Shahid Khaqan Abbasi with them," Ahsan Iqbal, a senior PML-N parliamentarian told a television station.

Last year, the NAB ordered an inquiry into both Abbasi and Sharif over a liquefied natural gas terminal project. Sharif is serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted in a separate corruption case.

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad and James Mackenzie; Editing by Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel)

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