WikiLeaks: Nawaz Sharif's broken promise

Cable reveals Saudi Arabia granted asylum to Sharif on condition of non-participation in politics for 10 years.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif broke a promise he had made with Saudi Arabia, when he returned to Pakistan in 2007.

According to a WikiLeaks cable release, the Saudi government had offered asylum and protection to Nawaz Sharif on the condition that he would not take part in political activity for ten years.

According to the cable, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States (US), Adel al-Jubeir, Sharif had ‘tested the limits of this promise five or six years in his exile’.

Jubeir goes on to say that the Saudis had allowed Sharif to travel to London and despite promising not to take part in political activities, he had flow from London to Pakistan. He says that the Saudi government had worked with Musharraf for the arrest and immediate deportation of Sharif when he returned.

In another cable, US Charge d’Affaires Michael Gfoeller noted that Nawaz Sharif was under the economic hold of the Saudis, as he had received a special economic development loan from the country.

Helping the Lashkars

A cable release alleges that the PML-N government in Punjab helped Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) ‘evade’ United Nations (UN) Sanctions right after the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.

President Asif Ali Zardari, speaking to former US Ambassador Anne Patterson, had alleged that Shahbaz Sharif had tipped off the LeT about UN sanctions, which gave the banned outfit a chance to empty its bank account before a raid or freeze. The cable goes on to say that President Zardari expressed his ‘frustration’ with the move.

The US diplomats were unable to confirm the allegation, but noted that they came at a time when

US diplomats were unable to confirm the allegation, but accepted the fact that information had been passed on, which was an indication of a surprisingly small amount of money in the bank accounts.