Male kin of Sharif ‘held’

ISLAMABAD, Nov 23 (PTI) — Several male family members of the ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, including his father, son and brothers, have been formally arrested by the authorities under the newly introduced Accountability Law, a media report said today.

According to English daily The Nation quoting reliable sources, those arrested included Mr Sharif’s father Mian Mohammad Sharif, son Hussain Nawaz, brothers former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and industrialist Abbas Sharif, nephew Hamza Shahbaz and another family member.

All arrests were made after the registration of cases against them under various provisions of the Accountability Act which came into effect through the promulgation of an Ordinance by President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar last week.

The Nation did not say when the arrests were made.

The newspaper said the whereabouts of Shahbaz Sharif and Hussain Nawaz were not known, while the remaining family members were under house arrest since the October 12 coup.

The paper said the authorities had, however, freed the female members of Mr Sharif’s family following which mother, wife and daughters met him yesterday.

All family members were under house arrest at their farm house on the outskirts of Lahore after Mr Sharif’s 32-month-old government was toppled in the coup.

The newspaper said the authorities were earlier contemplating arresting the male kin of the Sharif family under maintenance of public order, but legal advisers of the military regime advised against it arguing that it would be difficult to defend if challenged in court.

Last evening, some of the family members had an emotional meeting with Mr Sharif at the special cell at Landhi Jail where he has been kept in judicial custody.

Mr Sharif’s 88-year-old-mother broke down as she embraced her son who has been in detention for 41 days.

His daughter Mariyam told newsmen that her father was innocent and all the allegations levelled against him were baseless.

Asked whether she was happy to meet her father, Ms Mariyam said: Naturally, I should be happy to meet my father after about one-and-a-half months," the reports said.

She pleaded for her father’s life and called on international human rights groups to monitor his trial.

"My innocent father does not deserve hanging or any punishment because he has not committed any crime. I know he is innocent, the whole of Pakistan knows he is innocent," she told AFP.

Meanwhile, Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of Mr Nawaz Sharif alleged that her husband’s government was toppled to preempt the move to make the country an Islamic welfare state through the enforcement of Shariah laws.

Kulsoom also said that there was a "deep-rooted conspiracy" to prevent Mr Sharif from enforcing Islamic laws in Pakistan. She expressed confidence that this conspiracy would be exposed soon, domestic news agency `Internews’ said here.

She claimed that neither the nation nor the army had gained from the "illegal removal of the constitutional government of Nawaz Sharif" and, "only conspirators had benefited from the crisis after last month’s military coup. However, their intrigues will be exposed soon".

"With the passage of the Shariah bill after the Senate elections in March next year, Koran and Sunnah would have been made the supreme law in every sphere of life. Obviously our enemies did not want this", Kulsoom asserted.

Mr Sharif’s controversial Shariah bill had already been passed by the National Assembly more than a year ago but it was awaiting clearance from the Senate where his party did not enjoy majority.

US observer attends Sharif's trial

WASHINGTON: A US observer is attending the trial of deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as part of Clinton administration's effort to keep a close eye on Sharif's trial, state department spokesman James Rubin has said.

The observer was present in the anti-terrorist court yesterday where Sharif is undergoing trial for treason, attempted murder and hijacking, Mr Rubin said.

Mr Rubin reiterated Washington's concern that Sharif get a fair trial. "We have made these points directly to the authorities in Pakistan", he told reporters yesterday.