Nawaz meets Saudi crown prince, set to return to Pakistan tonight

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to return to Pakistan on Tuesday night, said his daughter Maryam Nawaz in a tweet.

The former premier, who has been in Saudi Arabia for the last two days, also met with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, confirmed Maryam. An initial meeting between them was reportedly cancelled for 'unknown' reasons, a friend of the Sharif family had told Dawn.

After the meeting, Nawaz left Madinah and went to Jeddah. From there, he's expected to go to Makkah to perform Umrah before returning to Pakistan tonight, said Maryam in her tweets.

Ahead of Nawaz's return, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif flew back from Saudi Arabia to Lahore on Tuesday morning.

Sharifs in the Kingdom

Nawaz had arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to hold meetings with the royal family. His younger brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, had arrived in the Kingdom three days earlier.

The Punjab government had tried to provide a clue behind the Sharifs’ hurried tour of the kingdom, saying: “Shahbaz Sharif met the Saudi crown prince and discussed matters related to Saudi Arabia’s absence from the summit on Al-Quds in Turkey.”

Official sources had told Dawn that Shahbaz Sharif also met the Saudi intelligence chief.

The PML-N had said that Nawaz was visiting Saudi Arabia to discuss "matters of national interest", denying that the former premier was in the Kingdom for personal reasons.

However, despite the clarification, opposition parties remained suspicious about Nawaz's visit and interpreted it as a step towards winning the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) for the embattled Sharifs who are facing multiple cases in courts and challenges in the political field.

At the time of Sharif's departure, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah had objected to the Sharifs’ visit, saying it was tantamount to humiliating a nuclear power by inviting foreigners to interfere in its internal affairs.