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Summary UK authorities say they have no record of Muhammad Asad Alis passport.
Olympic visa scam has taken a new turn after confusion over the passport and indentify of Muhammad Ali Asad.It is also being suggested that the undercover man of The Sun could have obtained a Pakistani passport with the help of NIC of a person having same name but different date of birth.Though the names are similar but Ali Asad was born in Sahiwal not Lahore.According to sources FIA on July 25 in a letter to British Home Office Border Department and asked for the record of Muhammad Ali Asad. The UK Home Department informed that one Muhammad Ali Asad was issued a visa on April 25, 2002, and his date of birth was 08.11.1977.UK Home Department Tim Belly also said that Ali Asad came to Pakistan along with the reporter of The Sun, and with the help of agents managed to acquire NIC and passport of real Muhammad Asad Ali whose date of birth is different.This leaves a question mark on the performance of NADRA and passport authorities.Earlier, The Sun had claimed to have broken into a crime ring asserting that by issuing fake passports and visas, Pakistan had given potential terrorists a chance to sneak into Britain along with the country’s Olympic delegation.Furthermore, the British government denied issuing a visa to ‘Muhammad Ali Asad’ on the days claimed by NADRA and passport authorities.In its reply to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), however, the UK Border Agency stated: “In response to your fax dated July 25, 2012 we have a record of a working holiday maker visa being issued to Muhammad Ali Asad, s/o Muhammad Anwar Siddiqui (Date of Birth November 8, 1977). It was issued to passport No J609802 on April 25, 2002; valid until April 25, 2004. “We have no record of a visa application being made in association with passport No BD1876301.”British High Commissioner in Pakistan Adam Thomson earlier had assured that the UK trusted Pakistan’s passport issuance system and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and added there was no evidence of anyone travelling to Britain as part of the Olympic visa scandal.He said Britain was satisfied with Pakistan’s visa and passport issuance mechanisms. “We are satisfied with the passport issuance system of NADRA and no country is free of defect,” he stated.
