Complex sentence: It also made national headlines when he extended an invite to then-President of Pakistan Ayub Khan, who declined citing'security reasons', the first of many subsequent refusals from high-ranking officials to visit East Pakistan.
Split into simpler sentences: It also made national headlines when he extended an invitation to then-President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, who declined citing'security reasons'. This was the first of many subsequent refusals from high-ranking officials to visit East Pakistan.