Pak PM Sharif's aide to quit over conflict of interest

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's advisor on aviation today decided to quit after it emerged that he has Canadian citizenship and interests in a firm involved in a major aviation project.
Attorney General Munir Malik assured a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry that Shujaat Azeem, adviser to the Prime Minister for aviation, would resign "very soon" to avoid any controversy.
Malik further said Azeem had admitted that he had been court-martialled while serving in the Pakistan Air Force but not on grounds of moral turpitude.
The bench directed the Attorney General to submit a notification regarding the acceptance of Azeem's resignation at the next date of hearing on July 29.

Earlier this month, the apex court had sought the government's reaction to the holding of dual nationality by Azeem, the brother of government spokesman and former minister Tariq Azeem.
The Chief Justice had expressed concern at Azeem's dual nationality, saying he held a post that involved sensitive security issues.

The court took notice of Azeem's dual nationality while hearing a case about irregularities in the construction of the new Islamabad international airport.
The Dawn newspaper first reported that Azeem was a dual national and a partner of Chaudhry Munir, the main infrastructure contractor for the new airport.
It subsequently emerged that Azeem is a shareholder in Royal Airport Services, which has applied for a licence to operate chartered flights.

Azeem has been functioning as the aviation minister and reports said the move by Royal Airport Services amounted to a conflict of interest.
After starting his career as a PAF pilot, Azeem served as a pilot for the Hariri family of Lebanon.