Rumours swirl over Qatari royal family’s visit

LAHORE: As the Panamagate plot continues to thicken, 12 members of the Qatari royal family reached the Raiwind estate of the ruling Sharif family on Saturday on a hush-hush visit, providing grist for the rumour mill.

A special plane carrying the Qatari royals, including Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad bin Thani al Thani, landed at Lahore’s Old Airport from where they were immediately flown to Jati Umra on a helicopter, according to sources.



In all, there were 15 people onboard the special plane including three crewmembers and 12 members of the royal family.

The visit came three days before the Supreme Court will resume hearing on a slew of petitions claiming that the Sharif family had laundered money to buy luxury flats in an upscale neighbourhood of London through offshore companies.

On November 16, the Sharif family’s lawyer had submitted a letter purportedly from Prince Hammad in the apex court in which the Qatari royal claimed that the London properties were proceeds of their real estate businesses in which Sharif’s father had invested 12 million dirhams in 1980.

There was no official word on Saturday’s visit of the Qatari royals who were received by provincial minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed and Premier Sharif’s son Hassan Nawaz at the airport.

The royal guests were immediately flown to Jati Umra where Premier Sharif was already present. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif joined them after completing his official activities scheduled for the day. He spent two hours with the guests before flying off to the United Kingdom and Turkey.



When approached by The Express Tribune, Rana Mashhood said he was busy with the Qatari guests and would talk later. However, later The Express Tribune called the minister several times but could not get through.

The visit is significant as it comes three days before an important hearing in the Panamagate case. However, a PML-N leader sought to quash rumours triggered by the royal trip. He said the Qatari guests were on a four-day hunting trip. “They will be flown first to Faisalabad and then to Bhakkar on Premier Sharif’s helicopter for hunting,” the official added.

However, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, said he was surprised by the timing of the visit. “The arrival of the Qatari royal family and their stay in Lahore is surely a part of some planning for the Panamagate case,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2016.