Sharif knew of his deportation only after flying for two hours

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to know about his deportation to Jeddah two hours after his aircraft had taken off from the Islamabad Airport.

Islamabad, Sep 22 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to know about his deportation to Jeddah two hours after his aircraft had taken off from the Islamabad Airport.

After being slapped with money laundering charges, Sharif was under impression that he was being taken to either Karachi or the Attock Jail. The bus in which the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief was sitting drove towards a roaring helicopter, but, suddenly, the driver took a turn and took the bus to a Quetta-bound PIA plane.

When Sharif boarded the plane, he saw many people sitting there. After settling down, when he started conversing with the staff, he discovered that besides some government officials, a team of doctors from Lahore's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital was also there.

This medical team was especially flown to Islamabad to accompany the former premier to Saudi Arabia, as the authorities did not trust the local doctors of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, fearing they might disclose the whole plan of his deportation, The News reported.

After staying in the air for almost two hours, the pilot emerged from the cockpit and told Sharif that he was being taken to Jeddah.

When Sharif reached Jeddah, Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, who had warned him against his return to Pakistan, received him at the Royal Airport in Jeddah on September 10.

According to one of the Sharif's friend, he was allowed to enter Saudi Arabia without meeting the formalities of immigration, as he did not have his passport with him at the time of deportation.

Prince Muqrin told Sharif could stay at the Saroor Palace where he used to reside with his family before moving to London. But Sharif, feeling quite hurt and betrayed, did not accept his offer and told him that he would prefer to live with his son who had purchased a house in Jeddah.

"This did not surprise Prince Muqrin as he only wanted him to stay in Jeddah till the time Musharraf gets re-elected from the current Parliament," the daily reported.

Sharif was also told in plain words that he will have to face certain restrictions and the first and most important was to stay away from the media.

ANI