SHARIF LEAVES FOR UK FOR TREATMENT

LAHORE: Pakistan’s ailing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption, left the country on Tuesday to travel to London for medical treatment. The 69-year-old, who served three times as prime minister but fell from grace after the Supreme Court ousted him from office over corruption allegations two years ago, has had a history of health problems, including heart disease. He departed on a specially equipped medical plane from the Pakistani city of Lahore, after a court granted him permission to leave for four weeks abroad.

LAHORE: Pakistan’s ailing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption, left the country on Tuesday to travel to London for medical treatment.

The 69-year-old, who served three times as prime minister but fell from grace after the Supreme Court ousted him from office over corruption allegations two years ago, has had a history of health problems, including heart disease. He departed on a specially equipped medical plane from the Pakistani city of Lahore, after a court granted him permission to leave for four weeks abroad for medical treatment. His conviction was earlier suspended for eight weeks on medical grounds.

Local television stations broadcast footage of Sharif being helped by one of his brothers and another man to board the plane, which was then shown in the air after takeoff.

Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, who is the head of Pakistan Muslim League opposition party, is accompanying him along with his physician Adnan Khan. Nawaz Sharif has always maintained his innocence and denied the corruption charges that prompted the country’s top court to remove him from office in July 2017. He claims he has been politically victimised.

Sharif was earlier this year sentenced to seven years in prison.