Pakistan: Cabinet Allows Nawaz Sharif To Travel Abroad For Treatment

Pakistan Cabinet on Tuesday decided to allow former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to go abroad for medical treatment. However, Sharif will have to sign surety bonds making a commitment that he would return after the treatment and face cases against him. The meeting that was chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, approved removal of Sharif’s name from the no-fly list (Exit Control List-ECL).

Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told media that the Cabinet conditionally allowed Sharif to go abroad. Special Assistant on Information Firdous Awan said that Khan looked at the case of Sharif on human grounds and decided to allow him (Sharif) get treatment out of Pakistan.

Earlier, the court granted Nawaz bail for eight weeks on medical grounds. The Islamabad High Court granted him bail in Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case. The bail plea was filed by PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif for his brother Nawaz.

According to reports, the court, while announcing the judgement, said that Rs 2 million each will have to be submitted to the court to secure Nawaz's release. Shraif has been lodged in jail after an accountability court had sentenced Sharif on December 24, 2018 to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.

Nawaz Sharif is ‘fighting for life’ after a drastic drop in his blood platelet count, a media report quoted his personal doctor as saying, days after Pakistan’s former prime minster was rushed from prison to a hospital.

Sharif, 69, was admitted to the Services Hospital on Monday night from the anti-graft body’s custody after his platelets dropped to a critical low level of 2,000. Sharif’s personal physician Dr Adnan Khan said in a series of tweets that “Former PM #NawazSharif, critically unwell, is fighting the battle for his health & life. Thrombocytopenia (Low Platelet Count) & NSTEMI (Heart Attack) is further complicated by deteriorating Kidney functions. Poor Blood Sugar & Blood Pressure control is taking its toll,” Geo News reported.