Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Affairs Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said that Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz has not invited former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to visit his Kingdom in case things get complicated in London.
In the wake of a request by the Pakistan government to the United Kingdom for the extradition of Nawaz, reports had been making rounds that the Saudi king had offered Nawaz to come to Saudi Arabia if he ran into problems with the UK government.
Addressing a presser in Lahore, Ashrafi said Saudi Arabia has never intervened in internal and external affairs of Pakistan.
King Salman did not invite Nawaz Sharif to visit his country in line with its “tradition of not intervening” in the internal affairs of Pakistan, he added.
It may be noted here that in a bid to bring Nawaz Sharif back, the government had announced it would cancel Nawaz’s passport on Feb 16.
In Dec 2020, the minister had said that the passport of the ex-PM would be revoked owing to his refusal to return to Pakistan. Nawaz had left for London for a medical check-up in 2019 after his health deteriorated in jail. The ex-premier, who was convicted in two graft cases, has refused to return since.
