Pakistan has not received formal request on Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to US
Pakistan Times Federal Bureau Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government has not received any formal request for allowing Mian Shahbaz Sharif for going to the United States and the Saudi government has also not spoken to Pakistan on the subject.

Sources said on Sunday that the information pertaining to Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s plan for his treatment in another country appeared in the media but no formal request has reached Islamabad from any quarter.

The sources said that in the presence of an informal arrangement, the Pakistan government is supposed to bring in loop for granting permission to the Mian family living in Saudi Arabia, as it happened on previous occasions.

The sources maintained that in case Pakistan government is approached in the matter, such submission would be favourably disposed and seek assurance that the arrangement is not defied.

The Human Values

"The government, and especially President Pervez Musharraf, keep human values very dear to them and the human considerations always get precedence over other aspects of the matter in such cases," the sources said.

Mian Shahbaz Sharif, who is staying with his family in Saudi Arabia, had left that country in 2003 with the prior permission of the Pakistan government and in May last year, he had tried to return to Pakistan without getting clearance from Islamabad but was deported to Jeddah from Lahore.

Sources close to the Sharif family said it is expected that Mian Shahbaz would leave for the United States early next month for treatment and later stay in London before returning to Jeddah.●