Nawaz Sharif chairs meeting with close aides after returning to Pakistan

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a brief meeting with his close aides after returning back to the country from London on Monday.

Sharif had gone to London about a month ago on account of his wife's Kulsoom Nawaz's treatment.

She was undergoing a cancer treatment in London.

Sharif's daughter Maryam and sons Hussain and Hassan did not accompany the former prime minister on his return as they are still in London.

Sharif was received by the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, PML-N information secretary Senator Mushahidullah Khan and Prime Minister's Adviser on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Abbasi at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

"He is the leader of PML-N and the people of Pakistan and is returning to country to play the very important role," the Dawn quoted PML-N spokesman Mushahidullah Khan as saying.

Earlier, the National Accountability Court (NAB) in Pakistan issued summons to Nawaz Sharif and his family members at their London address, asking them to appear on September 26 after they had failed to appear on September 19 hearing in connection with the Supreme Court-mandated corruption references.

The court will most likely issue bailable or non-bailable arrest warrants against the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and his family members if they do not turn up in court after receiving the summons.

On July 28, a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, while disqualifying Sharif under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution had asked the NAB to file four references in the Rawalpindi accountability court within six weeks on the basis of the material collected and referred to by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) as well as that already available with the Federal Investigation Agency and the NAB.