Pakistan

In this photo taken on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Pakistani Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar addresses the media during a news conference in Berlin, Germany. Pakistan's anti-corruption agency has barred the defense minister and nearly 250 other top officials from leaving the country as political turmoil deepens following a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a graft amnesty. Pakistan's anti-corruption agency said 247 people who had cases withdrawn under the amnesty had been blocked from travel because cases against them were now under investigation. The agency said Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009, that the officials were now under investigation following this week's court verdict, which meant that up to 8,000 graft and other cases dating back to the 1990s have, or will soon be, reopened.