Qatari royal visits Sharif brothers in Lahore

Business issues come under discussion

LAHORE: Qatar’s former premier Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani held separate meetings with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif after arriving in Lahore on Wednesday with a 13-member delegation.

The member of the Qatari royal family was also accompanied by former chairman of Ehtesab Bureau Saifur Rehman Khan, who reportedly has business links in Qatar and is the Sharif family’s close aide.

During the meeting with Sharif at Jati Umra, multiple business deals and opportunities were discussed at length, according to sources. The Pakistan-Qatar LNG project was also discussed, they said.

The Qatari royal refused earlier this year to come to Pakistan and cooperate with the joint investigation team formed on the Supreme Court’s orders in the Panama Papers case against the Sharif family that ultimately resulted in Sharif’s disqualification as prime minister. Three corruption references have also been filed against the family in the wake of the court’s verdict.



The Sharif family had presented two letters by Hamad to justify the money trial of its valuable properties in London. The content of the letter was doubted since it was not backed by any documentary evidence. The Qatari prince was given multiple opportunities to meet the JIT but he did not accept the offers and set his own terms for a meeting.

A lavish lunch was hosted for the Qatari delegation at Jati Umra after the hour-long meeting.

Later, the Qatari royal went to meet Chief Minister Shehbaz at his residence in Model Town. Bilateral ties and LNG projects in Punjab were reportedly discussed during the meeting.

The Qatari delegation, which had arrived on a special plane, later left for Karachi.