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Tuesday May 07, 2024

King Salman invites ‘Nawaz, Shehbaz for Umrah’

Three-time former prime minister will spend last 10 days of Ramadan in Medina and Makkah

By Usman Bhatti
April 02, 2023
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) calls on PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif at the Avenfield apartment in London, on May 11, 2022. — Supplied
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) calls on PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif at the Avenfield apartment in London, on May 11, 2022. — Supplied

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in a gesture of goodwill, has invited Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif — who is considered closer to the royal family — and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to the kingdom to perform Umrah, well-placed sources revealed on Sunday.

According to the sources privy to the development, the three-time former prime minister — who is in a self-imposed exile in London on medical grounds since November 2019 — along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz and other family members will depart for Saudi Arabia via a special plane on April 11.

Nawaz Sharif will be the royal guest in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He would spend the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan in Medina and Makkah, the sources added.

However, the final schedule of Sharif’s visit to the kingdom has not been announced yet.

It is pertinent to mention here that various ministers and parliamentarians have devised plans to perform Umrah during the period.