British High Commission to move visa section to UAE

Islamabad, July 10 : Following the fresh spate of bombings in Pakistan, the British High Commission is learnt to have decided to relocate its visa section to Dubai, though the officials denied that security was the reason for their shifting.

According to diplomatic sources at the UK High Commission, plans for such a move had been in the pipeline for quite sometime now due to rising threats by Al Qaeda and Taliban militants against Western citizens and installations in the country.

"But the process was expedited only after the terrorist attack on the Danish embassy in early June," the Daily Times quoted them as saying.

BHC spokesperson Aidan Liddle admitted that it had been proposed to move some of the office's administrative staff to the UAE, but denied that the move was due to security concerns.

It was an "administrative issue" and should only be treated as such, he said and added that the move was part of a plan to create visa hubs in various parts of the world where visa applications could be processed.

ANI