Nawaz Sharif leaves for London to visit ailing wife

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday left for London to tend to his ailing wife, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, who has been diagnosed with cancer.

His London trip comes four days before his indictment in three corruption cases in connection with the Panama Papers case.

Sharif, who was this week re-elected Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president, boarded a Pakistan International Airlines flight for London at 11 a.m. However, the flight was delayed for one hour as the health of two female passengers suddenly deteriorated, Geo News reported.

Sharif is accompanied by his secretary Mohammed Hanif Khan.

Prior to his departure, Nawaz met party leaders and government officials at the departure lounge of the old airport.

This is the second visit of the ousted Prime Minister to London after his wife was diagnosed with lymphoma (cancer of lymph nodes) by British doctors on August 22.

Sharif, who left for London on August 30 on account of his wife's medical treatment, returned to the country on September 25 to face the Supreme Court-directed corruption cases against him.

Mohsin Ranjha, a member of Sharif's legal team, told the media that the former Prime Minister's indictment has been deferred to October 9, the next date of hearing.

Sharif's PIA ticket has a return date of January 4, 2018, according to a copy of his ticket obtained by Geo News. However, sources said that is only because of a 'requirement' and the former premier may come back at any time before that.

Sharif's children are still in London. On September 26, the court had also issued bailable arrest warrants for his children and son-in-law as they failed to appear before it, despite two earlier summons.

His daughter Maryam Nawaz had gone to London after the by-election on Sharif's home seat in Lahore, held on September 17, which was bagged by Kulsoom by a winning margin of around 14,000 votes.

The seat was vacated after Sharif's disqualification by the Supreme Court in its July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case.

--IANS

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