ISLAMABAD — The arrest of former Pakistani Prime Shahid Khaqan Abbasi by anti-corruption watchdog on Thursday has brought to the fore Qatari connections.

Abbasi served as prime minister for less than a year after his predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, was ousted from power by corruption allegations.

The former PM is accused of alleged corruption in the award of contract to import LNG from Qatar when he was minister for petroleum and natural resources in the Sharif Cabinet.

Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau, the watchdog, had summoned Abbasi on July 18 in the case but he skipped the appearance.

Sharif, three-time prime minister, is already serving seven years imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Mills case. Opposition Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s co-chairman and former President Asif Ali Zardari is also in NAB custody in fake bank accounts case. — Agencies