Khawaja Asif arrives in Dubai, says will return on Sunday

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday said he had arrived in Dubai with his family to attend a wedding, amid heightened political temperatures as the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) prepares for a major anti-government rally in Islamabad next week.

"Just arrived in Dubai with family to attend a wedding, will b back inshallah tmrw morning," said the defence minister in a message posted on Twitter, assuring he would return the next day.

But Asif's departure was met with jubilation from the opposition, which claimed he had 'fled' the country.

In a post on Twitter earlier today, PTI chairman Imran Khan 'congratulated' the nation, claiming one of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's close aide had 'fled', another had been sacked, while the rest were "trembling as they look over their shoulders".

Khan was apparently referring to the defence minister and Pervaiz Rashid, who was asked to step down as Federal Information Minister earlier today.

According to a statement from the prime minister's office, Sharif directed Rashid to step down to enable holding of an independent and detailed inquiry into a "planted story related to the NSC and NAP meeting published in Daily Dawn on 6th October [which] was a breach of national security".

The PM House said evidence pointed to a lapse on part of the information minister, who was "directed to step down from office to enable holding of an independent and detailed inquiry".

The development came weeks after the military's top commanders voiced serious concern over the 'false and fabricated' newspaper report which alleged civil-military rift during the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting over the issue of tackling jihadi outfits.

At the Corps Commander’s Conference earlier this month, the military's top commanders had said the "feeding of the false and fabricated" newspaper report had breached national security.