ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s counter terrorism fund was used to buy a set of 21-carat gold jewellery worth $3,000 and $1,500 for two unnamed beneficiaries besides being used for lavish shopping of every kind.
Pakistani officials used a secret counter-terrorism fund to buy wedding gifts, luxury carpets and gold jewellery for relatives of ministers and visiting dignitaries, According to documents seen by international news agency AFP.
The US and other Western countries have poured billions of dollars into Pakistan since the 9/11 attacks of 2001 to help in its fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
Many of the documents deal with payments to intelligence sources, routine maintenance of vehicles and overtime for employees.
But the files also include receipts for gifts for US and British embassy officials, as well as flowers and sweets for journalists.
One receipt for 70,000 rupees ($700) is itemized as a “Pair of wrist watches for marriage of nephew of then interior minister”.
The documents show that on a trip to Rome for an Interpol conference in November 2012, then Rehman Malik took a necklace, wooden tables and a TouchMate tablet computer as gifts.
The counter-terror fund was also used to buy three rugs as wedding gifts for the son of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf early last year.
All these reports concern the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) of Pakistan’s interior ministry, formed in 2000 to coordinate between the country’s intelligence agencies and federal and provincial governments on national security matters.
It msut be noted that NCMC received some 425 million rupees ($4.3 million) from Pakistani government coffers from 2009-2013, according to files obtained by Umar Cheema, an investigative journalist for Pakistani daily The News, and seen by AFP.
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