JEDDAH/RIYADH, 31 October 2004 — Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s intended visit to Pakistan to take part in the burial of his father Mian Mohammad Sharif was shrouded in confusion yesterday.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Riyadh Adm. (Retd.) Abdul Aziz Mirza said that his country’s government had so far received no formal request from the Sharif family for the burial to take place in Pakistan.
Ambassador Mirza, who offered his condolences to the Sharif family, also denied an agency report which had said that “all members of Sharif family can travel to Pakistan except Nawaz, his wife and his brother”.
“The question of permission does not arise, when no such request has been made by the kin of the elder Sharif,” Mirza added.
However, Mirza’s claim was denied by Mohammed Ishaq Dar, a former federal minister and a close relative of Nawaz. “Ambassador Mirza personally conveyed the message that Nawaz, his brother and wife will not be allowed to accompany the body,” Dar told Arab News.
“Nawaz has reasserted that he will not accept any precondition for making the trip. In case he is not allowed, no family member will go to Pakistan. Only M.A.H. Mahfooz Ahmed, a personal attendant of the deceased will accompany the body,” Dar added.
Incidentally, Dar was in Jeddah for condolences as Nawaz’s granddaughter and son Hussain Sharif’s daughter had died on Oct. 27.
Mian Sharif, 85, died at a hospital in Jeddah late Friday.
Earlier, Siddiqul Farooq, a spokesman for Nawaz’s PML-N party, said in Islamabad that Mian Sharif would be laid to rest near Lahore in Raiwind early next week.
Party officials said the body was likely to be flown to Pakistan today after being taken for prayers to the Holy Haram in Makkah.
