UAE protocol officer's rifle was antique, embassy clarifies

ISLAMABAD: The rifle recovered from a local Emirati protocol officer’s luggage at Islamabad Airport was clarified to be an ‘antique’ which has relevant paperwork attached with it, said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) embassy in Pakistan.

The embassy rebutted a circulating new report regarding UAE protocol officer Rashid Sanan Ali, stating that the rifle was an antique which had been mistaken as a working rifle by authorities.

"The rifle was an antique and had the relevant paperwork also attached with it. The authorities had mistaken it for a working rifle and demanded license for the gun which was not required," stated the embassy.

The news report had stated that the officer was stopped at the airport from transporting the rifle to Dubai through a private airline, and had been confiscated form him after he was unable to show the license to the authorities.