Pakistan anti-graft agents arrest opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif

Pakistani court orders release of former premier Sharif

A Pakistani high court on Wednesday suspended the jail terms handed to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter, and son-in law in a corruption case.A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court comprising Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurungzeb ordered the release of Sharif, his daughter and political heir Maryam Nawaz, and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on bail against a surety bond of Rs 500,000 ($4500) each.However, the hearing of Sharif's appeal against his conviction will continue. Sharif is also facing another two cases stemmed from whistle-blower Panama Papers in 2016, which, he claims, had been “cooked up” and were aimed at ousting him and his party from politics.Pakistan: Ties with Turkey vital for regional peaceThe three-time premier was sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case by an accountability court Islamabad in May this year, which saw an outcry of “injustice” by his party supporters.The three had all been found guilty of buying four apartments at Avenfield House in London’s posh Park Lane area in 1993 allegedly through illegal means.Sharif had challenged the verdict in the Islamabad High Court.Pakistan PM announces nationality for Bengalis, AfghansSharif's supporters, who were present outside the court in high numbers, raised slogans in his favor and danced to celebrate the verdict, which the analysts see as a " big relief " and a " tonic" for the Sharif family."We are thankful to Almighty Allah. This is victory of justice. we congratulate the lovers of Sharif in all over the country", Khawaja Asif, former foreign minister and a senior leader of Sharif's right-wing Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), told reporters outside the court.Last week, the country's National Accountability Bureau had approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay against hearing of Sharif's appeal by the Islamabad High Court. However, the top court rejected the accountability bureau's petition.Afghanistan, Pakistan agree to work together for peaceIn July 2017, 68-year-old Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal, which also led to the filing of three corruption cases. Not long after, the top court also barred him from holding the leadership of his party.Nawaz Sharif, who served as the premier from 1990 to 1992, 1997 to 1999, and 2013 to 2017, could not complete even a single five-year term. His two previous governments were dismissed over corruption charges and through a bloodless military coup in 1992 and 1999, respectively.Pakistan's Khan vows to strengthen ties with TurkeyPakistan’s former First Lady laid to restPakistan air chief praises Pak-Turk defense partnership

Pakistan's ex-PM Sharif, daughter released for his wife's funeral

Pakistani authorities on Wednesday temporarily released former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter from prison to attend funeral services for his wife, Kulsoom, who died of cancer the day before in London.Video footage from Geo TV showed Sharif walking through Islamabad's airport amid tight security to be flown to the eastern city of Lahore, near the family home.The former premier and his daughter have been given parole for 12 hours but the government of Punjab province is considering an extension so they can attend the funeral on Friday. The body is due to be flown back from London on Thursday."Initially, we released them on parole for 12 hours but the application they have given to the Punjab government is for five days and we are considering it," provincial law minister Muhammad Raja Basharat told Reuters.Ousted as prime minister last year by the Supreme Court over some undeclared income, Nawaz Sharif was in London with Kulsoom this year when a separate anti-graft court handed him a 10-year jail term in absentia over the ownership of luxury flats in London in the 1990s.Maryam Sharif, his daughter and presumed political heir, was sentenced to seven years in prison on related charges.Both Sharifs said they had broken no law and there was no proof the residences were purchased with money from corruption.The father and daughter left Kulsoom's bedside to return to Pakistan to rally their followers ahead of a July 25 general election. Both were arrested on arrival and have been imprisoned since.Sharif's party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which had been in power for five years, lost to the party of former cricket star Imran Khan.Khan on Tuesday extended condolences to the Sharif family.Three-time-premier Sharif, who was removed from office in each of his elected terms, has maintained that his most recent ousting in July 2017 and subsequent conviction were part of a plot against him by the military and the judiciary.The army has repeatedly denied any interference in politics, while the courts insist justice is carried out impartially.

Pakistan's former first lady passes away in London

Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, passed away in London on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer, her family confirmed.Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif's younger brother and opposition leader in the National Assembly, said that the former first lady breathed her last at the hospital, local broadcaster Geo News reported.Her son Hussain Nawaz said she was shifted to the hospital last night after her condition deteriorated.Kulsoom Nawaz was diagnosed with Lymphoma last year and since then underwent several surgeries.She was born in 1950 and married Nawaz Sharif in 1971.Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz are currently serving prison sentences in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, after a court convicted them in a graft case in July.Kulsoom Nawaz is survived by a husband, two sons and a daughter.