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India-Pakistan
The mystery of Raiwind palace ownership
2014-01-04
[DAWN] The ownership of the Raiwind palace spread over thousands of acres is a mystery because it has never been mentioned in the statements of assets and liabilities of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
and other members of his family in politics.

Even latest declarations submitted by Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif, son-in-law Captain Mohammad Safdar and nephew Hamza Shahbaz to the Election Commission of Pakistain are silent on the ownership title of the huge property.

But Information Minister Pervez Rasheed told Dawn that the property was in the name of Shamim Sharif, mother of the Sharif brothers.

The statements of assets show that the Sharif brothers have much in common. Both live in houses not owned by them. Nawaz Sharif lives in a house owned by his mother while Shahbaz Sharif resides in a house owned by his spouse Nusrat.

Both use Land Cruisers gifted to them by unspecified persons. Both have multiple foreign and local currency accounts, own huge agricultural land and have investments in industrial units like sugar, textile and paper mills.

The most visible dissimilarity is the rapid growth in the value of assets owned by the elder brother and continuous decline in the value of assets possessed by the younger brother. Another dissimilarity is that Shahbaz Sharif has two properties in the United Kingdom, but Nawaz Sharif has no assets abroad.

Till the time of elections in May last year, Shahbaz was richer than Nawaz -- though none of them a billionaire -- but things are different now. According to the recent declaration, the value of Nawaz Sharif's wealth has registered a six-fold increase in just 12 months to make him a billionaire for the first time.

According to statements of assets and liabilities, the net worth of Nawaz Sharif's assets was Rs261.6 million in 2012 and of Shahbaz Sharif Rs336.9m.

In 2011, the assets of the two brothers were worth Rs166m and Rs393m, indicating an increase of Rs95.6m and decrease of Rs56.5m, respectively.

In 2013, the value of assets of Nawaz Sharif ballooned to Rs1.82bn while that of Shahbaz Sharif slipped further to Rs142m.

Incidentally, Shahbaz Sharif has more stakes abroad than in the country. He owns properties and bank account worth Rs138.28m in the UK. He has three loans worth 117.10m in Pak rupees in British banks.

The younger brother has not disclosed the value of five properties with net area of around 676 kanal in Lahore -- all gifted by his mother.

He has Rs51.96m cash in hand and Rs7.27m in his sole bank account in the country.

Mrs Nusrat, the first wife of Mr Shahbaz, had assets worth Rs273.46m on June 30 last year. It was Rs224.56m a year earlier. She has Rs14.34m cash in hand and Rs1.95m in her five bank accounts.

The assets of Mrs Tehmina, the second wife of Shahbaz Sharif, are worth Rs9.83m. They were Rs7.64m last year.

She has five bank accounts -- two in Pound Sterling, one in dollar and two in Pak rupees, but the money in these accounts is only Rs23,770. She has cash in hand and prize bonds worth Rs750,000 and two cars.

Kalsoom Nawaz, the wife of Nawaz Sharif, has net wealth of Rs235.85m, which is much less than that of Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz.

Mrs Kalsoom has land and a house in Changa Gali, Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
, worth Rs63.75m, a bungalow on Mall Road in Murree worth Rs100m, 88 kanal of land in Sheikhupura worth Rs70m, jewellery of Rs1.5m and shares in family businesses.

She has Rs67,555 cash in hand and Rs55,765 in banks.

Hamza Shahbaz is wealthier than his father with net assets of Rs250.46m. He has two wives. The wealth of his first wife is Rs2.45m and that of the second is Rs9.88m.

Capt Safdar's wealth is worth Rs14.23m. He owns a car which his wife Marium received as a gift from the UAE.
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India-Pakistan
Asghar letter reveals tainted politicians, sums received
2012-10-20
[Pak Daily Times] Air Marshal Asghar Khan on June 16, 1996, wrote a letter to former chief justice of Pakistain Sajjad Ali Shah which contained the names of politicians who received money in 1990.

Some of the people on the list and the money they received is as follows: Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, Rs 3.5 million; Mir Afzal Khan, Rs10 million; Lt Gen Rafaqat, Rs 5.6 million for distribution among journalists; Abida Hussain, Rs 1 million; Jamat-e-Islami Rs 5 million; Altaf Hussain Qureshi, Rs500,000; Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Rs 5 million (Sindh); Jam Sadiq, Rs 5 million (Sindh); Muhammad Khan Junejo, Rs 250,000 (Sindh); Pir Pagara Rs 2 million (Sindh); Maulana Salahuddin, Rs 300,000 (Sindh); different small groups in Sindh Rs 5.4 million and Humayun Marri Rs 1.5 million (Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
). The letter also contained the names of Bazenjo and Kakar tribes.

Younis Habib Habib, Mehran Bank's chief executive, in March 2012 had informed newsmen that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was given Rs 20 million, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif Rs3.5 million and his brother Shahbaz Sharif was given Rs 2.5 million. The court in March 2012 also took notice of a news item that the ruling Pakistain People's Party withdrew Rs 270 million from the secret fund of the Intelligence Bureau for pushing its agenda in Punjab in 2009 but it did not mention this case in the short order.
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India-Pakistan
Pak Army reinforcements may affect war on terror
2009-03-15
Pakistan Army's reinforcements to Islamabad from the restive northwestern part in the face of mass protests against the PPP-led government has fuelled concerns that it may weaken the war against the al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists near the Afghan border.
As if we'll notice ...
Pakistan on Saturday plunged deeper into political chaos with a defiant Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PML(N), leading thousands of supporters towards Islamabad for a mass sit-in front of Parliament on Monday.

Pakistan has put its Army on standby as the confrontation between the country's two main parties the PPP and the PML(N) showed no signs of abating despite frantic efforts by national and international mediators. The Army said it has brought reinforcements to Islamabad from northwestern Pakistan, fuelling concerns that it is being distracted from the terror war against the militants near the restive Afghan border, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Notice they didn't pull reinforcements away from the Indian border ...
"It may affect our fight against terrorists, but we don't have any choice," Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik was quoted as saying by the British daily.

U.S. and British officials fear the unrest is undermining counter-terrorism operations and could precipitate another military coup in a country that has been ruled by the Army for more than half of its 61-year history, the report said.

In an apparent effort to mediate in the political crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Mr. Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday.
"Mahmoud! Talk to this chattering woman!"
"Of course Your Enormity. What will you be doing?"
"Looking for my ten percent!"
Mr. Malik said that extraordinary security measures were being taken as intelligence agencies have warned that terrorists could take advantage of the protest to carry out "target killings" and a "series of bombings", including suicide attacks. "The government cannot allow mass demonstrations in the capital because of the threat of violence," Mr. Malik said in Islamabad. "I urge all Pakistanis not to join the long march as we have credible information that enemies of Pakistan could take advantage of the situation," he stressed.

The lawyers and opposition parties launched the long march on Thursday to pressure the ruling PPP to reinstate judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf during the 2007 emergency.

The PML(N)-backed the protest after accusing Mr. Zardari of influencing a Supreme Court verdict that barred Mr. Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from contesting polls and holding elected office.
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India-Pakistan
Bury the hatchet or bite the bullet: Get ready for revolution
2009-03-10
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif asked people during a rally in Jhelum on Monday to "get ready to make sacrifices for a revolution", urging them to "come out on the streets to change your destiny".

"This state of affairs in the country will change only through a revolution," he told a charged crowd, claiming his party would come into power "in a matter of a few days". "We cannot leave Pakistan at the mercy of Zardari," he said. "We know how to safeguard Pakistan."

Nawaz urged police personnel not to comply with government orders that they deemed against the law.

"The constitution, the law, the judiciary and Pakistan are not the fiefdom of [President Asif Ali] Zardari," he said. "If anyone tries to subject people to injustices, he should be ready to face the consequences," Nawaz warned.

"Fake courts have given a verdict against us," he said referring to his and his brother Shahbaz Sharif's disqualification. "If Zardari does not dislodge the courts, the people will dislodge them on their own," the opposition leader said in a fiery speech.

He said Pakistan was facing threats and "the responsibility to save it lies on our shoulders".
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India-Pakistan
Pakistain disqualifies Nawaz Sharif from office
2009-02-26
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday barred main opposition leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif from holding office and contesting elections, sparking political turmoil in the nuclear-armed nation.

The court order also applied to his brother Shahbaz Sharif, leading to the immediate collapse of his government in the central Punjab province, Pakistan's most populous state and the country's political heartland.

Neither brother was in court, but Nawaz Sharif called for street agitation to protest a court decision he said was delivered on orders from Zardari.

" I want to tell the nation that it should stand up to this lawlessness, to this judgment, to this unconstitutional judgment, to this villainous act by the president of this country, Zardari "
Nawaz Sharif
"I want to tell the nation that it should stand up to this lawlessness, to this judgment, to this unconstitutional judgment, to this villainous act by the president of this country, Zardari," Sharif told a news conference in Lahore.

The government enforced governor's rule in Punjab, the regional parliament was suspended and provincial governor Salman Taseer, a member of the main ruling Pakistan People's Party, took over the powers of chief minister.

"All petitions have been dismissed by the Supreme Court," senior lawyer Akram Sheikh told reporters in the capital Islamabad.

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India-Pakistan
Sharifs allowed to contest polls
2008-06-02
LAHORE — The Election Commission yesterday allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif to contest the by-election to be held on June 26, rejecting appeals against their candidature. PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal told reporters at the Raiwind residence of the Sharifs that the Election Commission had communicated its decision to the PML-N leadership.

A two-judge election tribunal of the Lahore High Court had given a split mandate on the issue on Saturday and had referred the matter to the Chief Election Commissioner, the only relevant authority on the subject. Under the law, in case a tribunal gives a split judgment, the returning officer's decision prevails.

The PML-N has welcomed the Election Commission’s decision. However, now, the Sharifs think that somebody could file a writ petition before the Lahore High Court to get both the PML-N leaders out of the race. The Sharifs have discussed the matter with their legal aides and finalised their strategy.

NNI adds: Sharif had earlier refused to fight the case in the court as he did not want to appear before judges who had taken oath under the PCO issued by President Musharraf when he proclaimed emergency in November last year.

Both Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz, had filed nomination papers to run in the by election. Sharif's PML-N secured the second most number of votes in the February 18 parliamentary elections and has also formed government in Punjab. PML-N ministers quit the federal cabinet after the ruling coalition failed to meet its deadline for the restoration of judges sacked by President Musharraf in September last year.
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India-Pakistan
Nawaz, Shahbaz elected parliamentary leaders
2008-02-22
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) central executive committee (CEC) pledged on Thursday the party would not become part of a coalition government that might compromise on the sacked judges’ restoration issue.

The PML-N wants the restoration of the judiciary President Pervez Musharraf sacked after he promulgated emergency rule on November 3, 2007.

The CEC nominated PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif as parliamentary leaders in the national and Punjab assemblies, respectively. The meeting participants decided that the Sharif brothers would contest by-elections to make their way to the assemblies. PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters after the meeting that the party vowed to restore the 1973 Constitution and form an “independent” election commission.
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India-Pakistan
Sharif to return to Pakistain on Sunday
2007-11-24
Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister deposed by President Pervez Musharraf in a coup eight years ago, will return to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia on Sunday, his brother Shahbaz Sharif told a Pakistani news channel.

General Musharraf, under intense criticism at home and abroad for imposing emergency rule three weeks ago, agreed to Sharif's return in discussions with Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh this week, according to a leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML).

Sharif met King Abdullah in Riyadh for a "farewell meeting" on Friday.

"We will fly on Sunday on Saudi Airlines directly from Medina to Lahore," Shahbaz, speaking from London, told the private television channel ARYOne World. Sharif will be joined by his wife Kulsoom and Shahbaz in Saudi and they will perform a pilgrimage to Mecca before taking the flight to Lahore, the capital of Punjab province and power base of the Sharif family.
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India-Pakistan
Jail awaits Nawaz, Shahbaz: Musharraf
2007-08-26
President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said that exiled former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif would go straight to jail on their return to Pakistan. “If they returned to Pakistan they will be jailed,” Gen Musharraf told members of parliament and district nazims from Rawalpindi Division at President’s House, according to sources present at the meeting. The meeting was called in connection with the election campaign of the president.

Gen Musharraf said the Sharif brothers were trying to “sabotage” the exile agreement reached between them and the government with the help of a “brotherly country”. He said the government would “handle” the two brothers on their return.
The Soddies seem to own the Sharif brothers. I doubt if Perv will actually do anything if they return, but at the same time they might talk a great return.
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India-Pakistan
Sharifs to be arrested on return?
2007-08-25
A high-level meeting chaired by President General Pervez Musharraf at his camp office in Rawalpindi on Friday decided that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, would be arrested if they returned to Pakistan, ARY television reported.

Quoting its sources, the channel said that the president’s constitutional experts and legal adviser told him the judiciary had become “very aggressive” and expressed their reservations over the judicial activism and the cases coming before the Supreme Court in the future. According to the channel, the meeting decided that the Sharif brothers would be arrested on their return and their pardoned sentences would be revived.

Agencies and Staff Report add: The meeting attended by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML President Chaudhry Shujaat, Attorney General Malik Qayyum, PM’s Adviser Sharifuddin Pirzada, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani and some close presidential aides also discussed the current political situation and expressed support to the proposals on political reconciliation between President Musharraf and the opposition parties.
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India-Pakistan
Sharifs can return: SC
2007-08-24
A seven-member larger bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that former premier Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif could come return to Pakistan at any time.

Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the bench accepted the constitutional petitions of the Sharif brothers in which they had asked the court to instruct the government not to hinder their return.
Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the bench accepted the constitutional petitions of the Sharif brothers in which they had asked the court to instruct the government not to hinder their return. “For reasons to be recorded separately, both the captioned petitions, being maintainable, are accepted. It is declared that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, under Article 15 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 have an inalienable right to enter and remain in the country as citizens of Pakistan. Their such return/entry to the country shall not be restrained, hampered or obstructed by the federal or provincial government agencies in any manner,” said the short order of the Supreme Court. The detailed judgment on both petitions will later be released separately.
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India-Pakistan
Sharifs to move SC tomorrow for return
2007-08-01
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif will file a petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday for their return to Pakistan, reported Geo news.
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