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Saudi Embassy Issues Visa to Deposed Pakistan PM
The Saudi embassy in Islamabad Saturday issued visas to deposed Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members to travel to the kingdom, Saudi embassy sources said.
The sources said that seven Umra (pilgrimage) visas to Sharif family members have been issued and they may proceed to Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Those who have been issued visas included Nawaz Sharif, his spouse Kulsoom Nawaz, brother Shehbaz Sharif and father Mian Mohammad Sharif.
The sources said that any person can get a Umra visa and there is nothing special in Sharifs' visas.
A special Saudi plane, carrying a member of Saudi Royal family, who is believed to be the special envoy of Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, has arrived in Pakistan to take members of Sharif family to Saudi Arabia, reported the News Network International, a local private press agency.
However, the Saudi embassy sources were reluctant to confirm the report.
According to another unconfirmed report, family members of Nawaz Sharif have started arriving in the capital city of Islamabad for the onward journey to Saudi Arabia.
Earlier reports suggested that the former prime minister had struck a deal with the military government granting him a pardon in exchange for at least 10 years' exile.
Nawaz Sharif's wife Kulsoom denied such a deal, but said she was ready to make any for the treatment of her husband, who is suffering from "various diseases."
Pakistan's Information Secretary Anwar Mehmood said Nawaz Sharif, now serving a life sentence in the centuries-old Attock Fort, had asked permission to seek medical attention abroad.
Kulsoom said Saudi officials had carried out extended negotiations with the Pakistani government on the jailed leader's future but she did not know the outcome. "If the government allows us to shift Nawaz Sharif abroad, we will take him abroad," she said.
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