BBC Report

The way I read the article, the officials quoted were saying that there was nothing in the law preventing an expat from applying and that in theory, such an application might be approved. (Or it might be denied, as it might be no matter who the applicant). It was just that in practice, no expat had ever been granted a permit.

As to whether anyone actually applied after this and what happened if they did, I have no information. Given the improvement in the security situation since the date of that article, I would be surprised if they would approve any such application by an expat today, even if they did approve any in the past (which I doubt).