Blacklisted US national Matthew Barrett deported
He was earlier arrested in May 2011 and termed persona non grata
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Matthew Craig Barrett, blacklisted citizen of the United States has been deported after he was nabbed in a raid in the federal capital earlier this month, reported Saturday.
Barret was arrested on August 6 in a guest house despite being termed persona non grata and expelled in 2011. His arrest over five years ago came a few days after US navy seals killed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
This month, the police and Federal Investigation Agency conducted a joint raid on a guest house the same day he landed in the federal capital on information provided by the airport staff.
A case under Foreigners Act and the Pakistan Customs Act was lodged against him.
Sources reported that Barrett was deported to United States via London through Pakistan International Airlines flight 711.
Earlier this month, he was presented before a Rawalpindi court following his detainment which gave him in Federal Investigation Agency’s custody on three-day physical remand which was later extended.
During the hearing, the US national maintained that both the cases filed against him in 2011 were dismissed by the Supreme Court and that he was granted visa by Pakistani consulate in Houston.
He claimed that purpose of his visit was to explore possibility of permanently moving here and meeting his in-laws.
It should also be mentioned here that his wife, Banosha Khan had filed a habeas corpus petition in Islamabad High Court in May 2011 after his arrest which was dismissed.
However, Chaudhry Nisar, Interior Minister took notice of the incident this month and a woman official in Houston, in-charge of issuance of visas was summoned.
