Sharif, daughter can’t leave Pak

Islamabad, August 20 

Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam will be placed on the Exit Control List, the first meeting of the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan decided today, a move that will prevent them from fleeing the country. 

Prime Minister Khan chaired the Cabinet meeting, which also discussed economic challenges and austerity measures, among other matters, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said.

He said the Cabinet decided to place Sharif and Maryam on the Exit Control List as part of the government’s anti-corruption drive.

The Cabinet also directed the law and interior ministries to implement red warrants against Sharif’s sons, Hassan and Hussain, and former finance minister Ishaq Dar and bring them back to Pakistan as they were “absconding criminals of the state”. 

All three of them are named in corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau and have been declared as absconders by an accountability court. The law ministry has been directed to contact the British government over the Avenfield properties in London owned by the Sharif family, the minister said. The Sharif family bought the four posh flats through money laundering, a Pakistani anti-corruption court had found. 

The father-daughter duo are currently serving their term at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, along with Maryam’s husband Captain (retd) Safdar who was sentenced to a year in prison. Sharif’s wife, Kulsoom, is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in London for throat cancer.

The Cabinet also decided that Prime Minister Khan will not go on any foreign tours for the next three months “unless there is a pressing matter that needs to be addressed”. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will represent Pakistan on international platforms. — PTI