Rawalpindi, Nov 1 : The names of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her security adviser Rehman Malik have been removed from the Exit Control List (ECL), a senior government official has confirmed.

Earlier, the Pakistan Government had excluded the name of Asif Ali Zardari, spouse of Benazir Bhutto, from Exit Control List (ECL), The News reported.

The latest decision is part of the National Reconciliation process that led to the return of Bhutto to Karachi, ending her eight years of self-exile.

Pakistan’s Attorney General (AG) Malik Muhammad Qayyum had said that all cases against Bhutto stood automatically withdrawn after the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

The NRO that was promulgated on October 5, just a day before the presidential elections, grants general amnesty to all politicians, bankers and bureaucrats from charges relating to misdemeanours, misconduct and misuse of power between January 1986 and October 1999.

The NRO has invited widespread protest and condemnation from various political parties, lawyers and public opinion. They even dubbed it as discriminatory and a gross violation of the Constitution.

The ordinance was also challenged in provincial courts of the country questioning Musharraf’s authority to grant general amnesty. (ANI)