Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Affairs Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said that Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz has not invited former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to visit his Kingdom in case things get complicated in London.
In the wake of a request by the Pakistan government to the United Kingdom for the extradition of Nawaz, reports had been making rounds that the Saudi king had offered Nawaz to come to Saudi Arabia if he ran into problems with the UK government.
Addressing a presser in Lahore, Ashrafi said Saudi Arabia has never intervened in internal and external affairs of Pakistan.
King Salman did not invite Nawaz Sharif to visit his country in line with its “tradition of not intervening” in the internal affairs of Pakistan, he added.
It may be noted here that in a bid to bring Nawaz Sharif back, the government had announced it would cancel Nawaz’s passport on Feb 16.
In Dec 2020, the minister had said that the passport of the ex-PM would be revoked owing to his refusal to return to Pakistan. Nawaz had left for London for a medical check-up in 2019 after his health deteriorated in jail. The ex-premier, who was convicted in two graft cases, has refused to return since.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed has claimed that a Gulf country funded former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s election campaign in the 1990s.
In an interview with Samaa, the minister said that he was a minister in the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif at the time. Rasheed said he was accompanying Nawaz Sharif when it was revealed that the country, that is rich in oil and gas and also has an LNG deal with Pakistan, funded the former PM’s party as a “token of love”.
According to the minister, the Arab country leader asked Nawaz: “Mr Prime Minister, we have given you a token of love on your election expenditure. Did you receive it?”
At this, Nawaz responded that yes, he had received the money, said Rasheed, adding that he asked Nawaz to send them a ‘thank you note’ at least.
It may be noted here that PM Imran Khan had alleged that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) received funds from foreign countries. The comments by the PM came in the wake of the hearings of a foreign funding case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
In a response to the petition in the foreign funding case, the PTI, that had denied any links to the foreign funding, said that if the two LLC registered after the written instructions of party chief Imran Khan were involved in the illegal act, it would be due to its agents who were managing them in the US.
The case was filed by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar in 2014. The Election Commission of Pakistan had started fresh scrutiny of the PTI accounts — a process going on since March 2018.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif offered a bribe to Broadsheet for abandoning probe against his foreign assets, claimed Broadsheet Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kaveh Moussavi in an interview on Sunday.
In an interview published on YouTube, he said the assets recovery firm “had flatly refused the deal offered by a person claiming himself as the nephew of Nawaz Sharif in 2012”.
According to APP, Moussavi said the firm refused the deal because it did not “negotiate with the crooks”.
The Broadsheet CEO also criticised Nawaz for claiming that the firm hired by military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf to identify assets of Pakistanis, mainly politicians, had exonerated him and his family.
According to Moussavi, the Sharif family has assets not only in the United Kingdom (UK) but across the globe, claiming he still has evidence against the Sharifs.
The Sharif family required plenty of explanation about their resources of amassing these assets, he added. He said his firm was ready to probe the Avenfield Apartments’ purchase by the Sharifs on the request of the Pakistan government.
He said the process of accountability was continuing but after President Musharraf left the office, his successors started hampering the process by not giving them access to information and termination of Broadsheet’s contract.
Broadsheet was asked to go after the Sharif family at start, but it told Gen Musharraf that it would not become a part of a witch-hunt, the CEO said, adding that the probe was subsequently expanded to the previous governments as well.
The payment to Broadsheet under the asset recovery agreement was contracted at 20 per cent of the recovery from each ‘target’, the term used for those being probed. However, the agreement was revoked in 2003.
According to Moussavi, the former president had told him in 2007 about the cancellation of the agreement, saying: “You know Mr Moussavi the Supreme Court told us to have an election and we did so. They came back to power and gutted NAB.”
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has been spotted speaking to her granddaughter while looking for toys, a video of which has gone viral over the internet.
In the video, reportedly shot at a rest-stop on the Bahawalpur-Lahore route, the PML-N leader was seen speaking to granddaughter Serena, telling her what she had bought for her and asking what else did she want.
“I got red chips for you,” Maryam was seen telling the kid on a video call. “You want to see?” She is then seen heading over to a wall where a toy doctor set is hanging. “Look… look at this doctor’s set Serena. You want this one?” “You want the doctor’s set or do you want the bus?” she asks before reciting the nursery rhyme “Wheels on the Bus”.
“Maryam Nawaz specially stopped at a rest area on her way back to Lahore from Bwp to get things for her granddaughter Serena… Showing her toys on a video call,” PML-N’s Sania Ashiq wrote while tweeting the video.
“The pleasures and joy of being a Nano,” Maryam said while reacting to it. On May 6, 2018, Mehrunisa, Maryam’s daughter and the granddaughter of former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, gave birth to the baby girl. A picture of the baby in Maryam’s arms had also gone viral later.
In a bid to bring former prime minister Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan, the federal government will cancel his passport on Feb 16, said Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the minister said that the passport of the ex-PM will be revoked owing to his refusal to return to Pakistan.
Nawaz had left for London for a medical check-up last year after his health deteriorated in jail. The ex-premier, who was convicted in two graft cases, has refused to return since.
Rasheed also said that now people will be able to obtain visas for any country online.
It may be noted that the interior ministry’s decision to revoke the passport of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader came two months after a request by the National Accountability Bureau.
According to Geo, NAB had sought cancellation of the passport and the CNIC of the ex-PM in OCt. “During the course of proceedings, the said accused [Nawaz] deliberately absented himself from the court and after the due process…whenever accused is arrested, he be produced before the court.”
“In view thereof, copies of the said court order and perpetual non-bailable warrant of arrest are forwarded for processing of blacklisting/cancellation of the passport and blockage / impounding of CNIC of the accused through the Ministry of Interior,” NAB said in an order.
2020 has been a year like no other and with the end of the year approaching, we list you down the pictures that trended this year in Pakistan.
Here we go…
1. When Faisal Vawda brought an army boot with him to a talk show
The PTI federal minister brought an army boot to a live TV programme to troll the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of the opposition for voting in favour of the Army Act in parliament amid their tirades against security forces.
2. Faisal Eidhi making donation to Prime Minister Imran Khan
Faisal Edhi, son of world-famous philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, met Prime Minister Imran Khan and handed over a Rs10 million cheque for the premier’s coronavirus relief fund.
Days later, he tested positive for the virus, leading to speculations if the premier had also been infected.
3. Memes from the Last episode of ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’
Remember, when MPTH lead character Danish was talking even after the heart rate monitor showed a straight line. From the “straight line” to “Mehwish slap” and ‘do takkay ki aurat’, all the memes were quite lit. Memes then light up the audience after a dull finale.
4. When Maria B landed into hot water
How could we forget Maria B’s fancy chandelier and the memes that broke the internet following the designer’s video with her husband telling the whole story behind the Punjab Police fiasco.
5. ‘I WILL SACRIFICE MY WHOLE LIFE FOR PAKISTAN’
Former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Sehar Kamran made the headlines for celebrating independence day with great enthusiasm at a Pakistani school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Sehar was seen encouraging the students all in the spirit of patriotism.
6. Syra and Sheheryar turned up the heat with their photoshoot
Syra Yousuf and Sheheryar Munawar’s photoshoot for a local magazine became the talk of the town with people discussing how hot they look together.
7. When Ishaq Dar had a hard time in HardTalk
The former finance minister, who is residing in London while corruption cases against him worsen back home, recently appeared on the BBC talk show, videos of which went viral over what was claimed to be his “discomfort” on the hot seat.
The host, Stephen Sackur, however, says Dar wanted to be on that show and seemed to enjoy it.
8. Bakhtwar Bhutto Zardari’s Engagment
PPP’s Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari got engaged this year and all eyes were on her corona-exclusive wedding. Her engagement card became controversial when it required guests to provide a coronavirus test result before coming to the engagement but the talk of the town was her shawl. The shawl was embroidered with memories of her family, her favourite things and also her love for food.
9. Nawaz Sharif eating pizza in London
Former PM Nawaz, despite conviction in corruption cases, was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment.
Currently in London, he has time and again been spotted taking a stroll in the park, dining at a roadside cafe, and most recently, enjoying pizza.
While criticism continues to pour in amid government’s efforts to bring him back, his daughter Maryam Nawaz seems to believe none of the stuff he has been seen doing is bad for his health.
10. Photoshoped picture of Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s hand
PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz was recently trolled by social media users after she shared a supposedly edited picture of the much-awaited Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally of the joint opposition in Lahore.
While the opposition claimed it was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, the government and social media users disagreed, advising the opposition leader to “fire her graphic designer”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that there is a lot of anger in the military over the tirades of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against the army, but the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is putting up with it for the “sake of democracy”.
The PM made these comments in an interview on Samaa TV. “I praise Gen Bajwa today. To attack an army chief in this manner definitely provokes a reaction from the army,” he added.
The PM said that Gen Bajwa was “uncomplicated man”. “If someone else was at the helm of the army, there would have been a strong response by now,” Imran said.
The PM said the opposition was accusing him of being a “puppet” of the establishment, yet they wanted to talk to the establishment. “This means they’re putting pressure on the army to remove a democratic government. This is [their] democratic movement,” he added.
Imran said that asking the military to remove a democratically-elected government was a case of “treason”, as Article 6 applies to this. “The opposition’s second demand is that if the army and ISI chiefs do not remove me, then the army should remove them [the chiefs of army and ISI],” he added.
According to the prime minister, the army was a state department that was subordinate to his government. He said the military has always stood by him in times of crisis.
Speaking on the former government’s troubled relationships with the establishment, Imran said Nawaz was “manufactured by the army against the PPP”. He said he himself received a message from military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq in 1988 that he wanted to make him (Imran) the prime minister.
He said the establishment had helped the PML-N supremo in the 2013 elections but their ties became strained because the establishment did not support him in 2018.
The ex-PM, who is in a self-imposed exile in London, has called out the army many times for its involvement in manipulating the general elections in 2018 to bring Imran Khan to power. Addressing a rally in Gujranwala in Oct, the former PM had called out Gen Bajwa and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed for alleged manipulation of election results.
As the debate surrounding convicted former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s extradition to Pakistan from the United Kingdom (UK) intensifies, Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed has said that “only Allah can bring Nawaz back to Pakistan”.
Speaking to journalists in Islamabad, the minister said that the current government could bring neither Nawaz nor former finance minister Ishaq Dar back to Pakistan because there existed no extradition treaty between the two countries.
“Now, only Allah can bring them back,” he said while speaking of the former chief executive of the country, Nawaz, and his finance minister, Dar.
Dar had left the country for “medical treatment” in the midst of investigations by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him, whereas his ex-boss, ailing Nawaz, had left the country after bail on medical grounds while serving a jail term.
While the government has been trying its best to bring the two back, they have managed to remain in London and appear on talk shows or at anti-government public gatherings via video link.
Earlier this week, it was reported by a local English daily that British Home Secretary Priti Patel had written to PM Imran Khan’s adviser on accountability, Shahzad Akbar, pointing out that the UK government was subject to international law in the case of Nawaz.
The home secretary had reportedly confirmed that the British government would give Pakistan’s extradition request full attention under the provision of UK law if a formal request were received. At the same time, Patel had stressed that the UK was subject to international law and could not go against the established legal principles.
The report had quoted sources as saying that Pakistan had asked for the deportation of Nawaz in a letter sent via British High Commission but a formal extradition request had not been filed. The home secretary’s letter to Pakistan meant that the UK would not consider deporting Nawaz, acting on the deportation request made by Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi wrote a letter to former premier Nawaz Sharif to offer his condolences after the death of the latter’s mother Begum Shamim Akhtar, it has emerged.
Begum Shamim passed away last month.
The letter, dated November 27, was delivered to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad last week. Charge d’ Affairs of Indian High Commission Gaurav Ahluwalia asked her to convey the letter to her father Nawaz.
In the letter itself, Modi shared a personal memory of meeting Sharif’s late mother during his visit to Jati Umra residence back in 2015.
“I am deeply saddened to learn about the demise of your mother Begum Shamim Akhtar on November 22 in London. My heartfelt condolences are with you in this hour of intense grief,” wrote the Indian premier.
“I recall my interaction with her during my brief visit to Lahore in 2015. Her simplicity and warmth was indeed very touching,” Modi wrote, expressing his personal bond with the Sharif family.
“In this moment of profound grief, I pray to the Almighty to bestow strength upon you and your family to bear this irreparable loss. May the departed soul rest in peace,” Modi added.
It may be noted that it was Nawaz who started developing a personal relationship with Modi soon after he was elected PM in 2014 by personally making a visit to his oath-taking. Nawaz also sent a white sari for Modi’s mother, who had gifted a shawl to Nawaz’s mother when he had visited India.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz has defended father Nawaz Sharif after his picture eating pizza went viral on social media, inviting criticism from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and others.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, the PML-N vice president said that the former prime minister eats pizza once in a while. She made these remarks in response to a question wherein the reporter asked her to comment on the criticism that the photo of the former premier invited for eating pizza despite being a heart patient.
She asked whether any doctor had forbidden a heart or platelets patient from eating pizza. She further said that she did not know Nawaz Sharif to have any particular fondness for pizza.
Maryam also talked about the Senate election. She termed the government’s decision to hold early Senate polls a ‘controversy’. According to Maryam, she was not opposed to the amendment pertaining to the secret ballot, but she would oppose the early polls.
The PML-N leader also warned Prime Minister Imran Khan against pressurising the state institution, saying the PM will have to be answerable to the people of Pakistan for his acts.
