Sharif to depart for London soon: Report

ISLAMABAD: Deposed former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif is set to depart soon for London from Saudi Arabia where is living after being whisked away from Islamabad within hours of his arrival from a seven-year exile on September 10.

The leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) will reach London from Saudi Arabia next week, the Daily Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

Nadir Chaudhry, press secretary to the PML-N leader, confirmed reports that the exiled prime minister would be leaving the Kingdom soon.

The Saudi royal house has been greatly perturbed by the negative reception in Pakistan of the role the Kingdom and its representatives played in getting Sharif whisked away from Pakistan on September 10.

It was one of the rare occasion when Saudi Arabia and the royal family had been openly criticised, when traditionally they have been accorded great respect, bordering sometimes on reverence.
 
Sharif was deported to Saudi Arabia for the second time when he had returned to Pakistan after seven years of forced exile.

The deposed premier's party had earlier claimed that Saudi Arabia had assured Sharif that it would take up the issue of his "exile" and "deportation" with the Pakistan government after Eid-ul-Fitr.

The former premier's brother Shahbaz had said in September that the deposed leader will soon return to Pakistan to lead his party in the general elections planned in the first half of January.

A neutral caretaker government is to be put in place to supervise the elections after the national and provincial assemblies complete their term on November 15.