RIYADH, 8 November 2005 — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will receive a new Pakistani passport within the next 24 hours.
“The former Pakistani premier and 18 members of his family submitted their applications for passports on Sunday at the Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah,” said Pakistani Ambassador Adm. Abdul Aziz Mirza in Riyadh yesterday.
The ambassador elaborated: “Sharif’s passport application had some problems. The Pakistani missions require copies of ID cards and other necessary documents in order to process an application for a passport.”
The applications are now being processed.
According to reports in the Pakistani media, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri confirmed that the Pakistani Consulate had been directed to issue passports to Sharif and his family.
“I was told that there were some objections, but the government has directed the consulate to issue the passports,” the foreign minister said in the Pakistani press.
Once the passports have been issued, Sharif will apply for a British visa, said reports published yesterday. Sharif will travel from Saudi Arabia to London in order to get medical treatment for his son, Hassan Nawaz.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf made the decision to issue a new passport to Sharif on humanitarian grounds after Sharif made known his desire to take his son to London for treatment.
