ISLAMABAD: A spokesman for the political party of Pakistan’s jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says the former leader is being held in deplorable conditions as he awaits the outcome of his appeal over a 10-year sentence on corruption charges.
Pervaiz Rashid, of the Pakistan Muslim League, says he visited Sharif in jail on Thursday.
His statement comes amid increasing political tensions ahead of Pakistan’s parliamentary elections next week.
Analysts say cricket star and opposition candidate Imran Khan enjoys the backing of military, which has ruled Pakistan directly and indirectly for most of its 71-year history.
Rashid says the Pakistan Muslim League party will win the vote if the elections are not rigged.
Sharif, who was ousted from office by the country’s Supreme Court last July, faces several trials on corruption charges.
Spokesman says Pakistan’s ex-PM jail conditions deplorable
Spokesman says Pakistan’s ex-PM jail conditions deplorable
- Analysts say cricket star and opposition candidate Imran Khan enjoys the backing of military, which has ruled Pakistan directly and indirectly for most of its 71-year history.
- The spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League party said the party will win the vote if the elections are not rigged.
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
