Sharif family to visit Saudi Arabia next week

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Quaid Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz will visit Saudi Arabia next week at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will also join them separately later. Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) President Maulana Fazlur Rehman has also been invited to spend the last days of Ramazan in the kingdom.

Fazl is under treatment and is not allowed to use stairs. But, his spokesman Aslam Ghauri said that it’s for doctors to decide whether the PDM chief could visit Saudi Arabia.

Well-placed sources told The News here the other day that former premier Nawaz Sharif, his children, grandchildren and other family members will travel to the kingdom on April 11. They have been offered a special plane of the royal fleet. Sharif’s family will spend the last ten days of holy Ramazan in Makkah and Madinah and will also perform Umrah. Nawaz Sharif used to spend the last days of Ramazan in Saudi Arabia before his government was sacked. Now he would be visiting the holy land after six years. The sources said that the former PM will also have meetings with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his stay. Maryam will reach Saudi Arabia a day ahead of her father. She will stay in Jeddah at her brother Hussain’s house. Her husband Capt (retd) Safdar and son Junaid Safdar will also accompany her.

The itinerary of Nawaz’s visit has political significance as well. The sources pointed out that the elder Sharif and some members of his family will travel to Doha on the last evening of Ramazan and will celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr there. Junaid Safdar and his father-in-law ex-Senator Saifur Rehman will host Nawaz.

An important meeting between the Emir of Qatar and the PMLN supremo is also expected before the latter’s return to London. Besides performing Umrah, the visiting dignitaries from Pakistan would also seek financial assistance from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the sources said. The sources said that doctors in London have started therapy sessions with Nawaz so he could withstand the hectic engagements ahead.

Prime Minister Shehbaz has also been invited for the visit during Ramazan by the Saudi royal family. He is yet to make up his mind for the visit.

Ishaq Dar will join Nawaz in Madina since he is leaving for Washington this week on a four-day visit. He will be holding talks with the IMF high-ups and US administration officials.

Several parliamentarians and some federal ministers have also planned to visit Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah. Federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Maulana Asad Mahmood, Azam Nazir Tarar, Chaudhry Saalik Hussain, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Khawaja Saad Rafiq and Talha Mahmood have also obtained visas for Saudi Arabia.