Pakistan Air Force denies airlifting horse gifted by Sharif to Qatari emir

Islamabad: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has denied reports that its aircraft was used to airlift a horse to Qatar as a gift from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

"It is clarified that the news aired on some channels regarding the airlifting of a horse to Qatar in a C-130 aircraft is baseless and incorrect," said a PAF spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that the PAF strongly denies the content of this news.

The Dawn quoted a letter as saying that a "special aircraft (C-130) carrying a horse will travel to Qatar on 1 February, 2017 instead of 28 January, 2017".

The letter added that the "horse is a gift from the Prime Minister of Pakistan to the Emir of Qatar State" adding "The diplomatic flight clearance should be valid for 72 hrs for the journey."

The letter was sent by the deputy chief of protocol in the Foreign Ministry.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Maryam Aurangzeb also clarified that the horse was to be gifted to the emir during his visit to Pakistan and said the news was baseless and no horse was airlifted to Qatar.