RAWALPINDI: A civil court on Tuesday sent US national Matthew Craig Barrett, “blacklisted” under Foreigners Act, on a three-day physical remand.
During the proceedings, a FIA investigation officer told the court that the accused was blacklisted and an investigation team was probing his re-entry into the country. The accused apprised the court that he had come back to “explore possibility of permanently settling in Pakistan”. There were no charges against him as he had a valid visa issued by the Pakistani Consulate in Houston, he claimed. The investigation officer sought custody of the suspect for interrogation, which was granted by Civil Court Judge Naveed Iqbal Tarrar. Barrett was arrested in 2011 while taking photographs of sensitive installations in Jhang Bhattar area near Islamabad. Maps of sensitive installations were also recovered from him.
