ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday temporarily suspended Interior Minister Rehman Malik as a member of parliament for allegedly running for office while still a British citizen, an official said.
The Pakistani constitution bars MPs from acquiring foreign nationality. Under Pakistani law, elected MPs can be ministers, although non-elected members of Parliament can join the cabinet as advisers.
Malik, elected to the Senate or upper house of parliament in 2009, says he renounced his British citizenship and promised to submit documentary evidence in court.
But a certificate presented to a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry yesterday failed to satisfy the judges, a court official said.
“The bench ordered the suspension of Rehman Malik’s membership of the Senate,” he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The court said Malik’s membership would be restored if he furnished adequate proof on June 13 that he had renounced his British citizenship before his election, he said.
 FROM: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Members of the government have accused judges of overstepping their reach and of trying to bring down the Pakistan People’s Party run government before it becomes the first elected administration in Pakistan to complete an elected term.
In April, the Supreme Court convicted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of contempt for refusing to ask Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Last month, it also temporarily suspended MP Farahnaz Ispahani, the wife of Pakistan’s sacked ambassador to Washington and an adviser to Zardari. She holds dual Pakistani-US nationality.
Pak court suspends Rehman Malik
Pak court suspends Rehman Malik
Poland intercepts Russian plane over Baltic Sea
- Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions
- Fighter jets escorted from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace
WARSAW: Polish jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, which was flying close to its airspace, the NATO member country’s army said on Thursday.
Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions since September when three Russian military jets violated Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes just days after more than 20 Russian drones had entered Polish airspace.
“This morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace,” the army said.
It also said that at night, objects were observed entering Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus.
“After detailed analysis, it was determined that these were most likely smuggling balloons, moving in accordance with the wind direction and speed,” the army said. It added that part of the airspace over northeast Poland’s Podlaskie region, which borders Belarus, was temporarily closed to civilian traffic to ensure security.
