Grave violation: trade officer sets up private business

Commerce Ministry may face serious embarrassment at international level as a trade officer, who has been granted an extension by the Prime Minister recently, may face a legal action for setting up a private business in violation of Geneva Convention, well informed sources told Business Recorder.
Shahriyar Talpur, trade officer at Santiago is the son of Abdul Ghani Talpur, member National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce. His tenure expired on December 28, 2011 but his father allegedly succeeded in getting him one year's extension despite strong opposition by Pakistani Ambassador to Chile.
The Pakistani Ambassador to Chile has, in a letter to Islamabad, stated, "I have received a written complaint from a local Pakistani businessman by the name Ziaul Haque, stating that Commercial Counsellor Shahriyar Talpur has cheated him by refusing to pay his share of profit from a joint investment in a restaurant "Karachi Spice" which they established in Santiago in December 2010.
"According to the complainant, Shahriyar took pesos 7 million ($14,000) with a promise to pay 50% share to him on a monthly basis. The capital amount was paid through transfer to Shahriyar's bank account, which is verifiable. Copies of Ziaul Haque's complaint, business contract signed by Shahriyar Talpur and Ziaul Haque, and bank transfer confirmation are being sent by next diplomatic bag. Ziaul Haque complained that Shahriyar is not only refusing to pay his share of profit, but now refusing to return his capital.
"He has threatened to lodge a formal complaint with local Foreign Ministry, besides registering a case with police and moving local courts. If the matter is raised with the police and the Foreign Ministry, it will cause enormous embarrassment to the embassy and the government of Pakistan," the Ambassador said in his letter.
Shahriyar's involvement in private business is a clear violation of Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. He has got involved in activities which are not expected of a diplomat. Government employees are not supposed to engage in business. "I now recall that the Chilean Chief of Protocol informally enquired about the matter recently about which I had no information," Ambassador Burhanul Islam added.
The ambassador has requested the government to recall Shahriyar Talpur to headquarters immediately to save embarrassment to the Embassy and the government of Pakistan. Another trade officer, Ms Aysha Saeed, with considerable political clout, who also got an extension, was "involved in forgery," according to the incumbent Secretary Foreign Affairs.