New Delhi: The Lahore high court has ordered the arrest of well-known Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida on charges of “leaking sensitive material”, according to Bloomberg. The court on Monday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Almeida, the assistant editor of English-language daily Dawn. He has also been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) or the ‘no-fly list’ after he apparently failed to show up in court after three notices.The case against Almeida pertains to an interview published in May 2018, where former prime minister Nawaz Sharif claimed that those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 were from Pakistan.“In this view of the matter we are left with no option except to issue non-bailable warrants of arrest against Cyril Almeida,” the court order said, according to Dawn. “Keeping in view the past conduct of the respondent, we have been persuaded to direct that his name shall be placed in Exit Control List forthwith,” it added.The next hearing would be on October 8. The Court has ordered Almeida’s lawyer to be present that day. Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, also a former PM, have been summoned to appear before the judges the same day.Almedia confirmed these details on Twitter on Monday.Spoke to the lawyer, there is a warrant, am back on the ECL and will have to appear before the court on Oct 8… how’s your Monday been? ?— cyril almeida (@cyalm) September 24, 2018Dawn‘s editor Zafar Abbas said Almeida will appear in court on the next date of hearing. In a note, he said, “The notice served on Cyril Almeida was delivered at Dawn’s Islamabad bureau in the middle of last week, and journalists and officials at the bureau say the earlier two notices were never delivered.“Mr Almeida, like all Dawn staffers, is a law abiding citizen, and sincerely believes in the rule of law. He is a seasoned journalist and has never shied away from such matters,” he added. Abbas also appealed to the court to withdraw the arrest warrant, urging to remove his name from the ECL.The case against AlmeidaAlmeida was first put on the ECL in October 2016, when his story about a rift between Pakistan’s civilian and military leaderships over militant groups that operate from Pakistan but engage in war against India and Afghanistan was published.On October 6, 2016, Almeida, citing sources, reported in the widely-read daily that the civilian government has told the military leadership of the growing international isolation of Pakistan due its alleged support for militancy.While the government and military initially denied the allegations, Almeida’s publication stood by him and refused to reveal their source. The government, forced to remove Almeida from the ECL, launched its own investigation into the source of the leak. This resulted in Pervez Rashid, one of the main PML-N players, becoming the scapegoat and resigning from his post to neutralise the situation.Matters took a turn for worse after Sharif gave an interview to Almeida in May 2018, months ahead of the country’s general election, where he claimed that ‘parallel governments were running’ and that ‘militant organisations were active’. “Should we allow them (these militant organisations) to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can’t we complete the trial?”, he said, referring to the Mumbai 26/11 attacks and the trials of those involved being stalled in a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court.The petitioner, Amina Malik, sought action against Sharif for “defaming state institutions”. She said that the former PM’s “anti-state” remark could be used against Pakistan by its enemies. Almeida was issued notice by the court to file a response to the treason charge against Nawaz and Abbasi.