Amid hue and cry on Panama Papers Leaks in the country, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani is expected to arrive on January 25th for a two-day visit to Pakistan, it has been learnt reliably on Thursday. According to sources, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani will visit Pakistan on January 25th on the invitation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who will receive the distinguished guest upon arrival.
The Emir of Qatar is expected to receive the royal protocol as he will be staying in Pakistan as an honoured guest of the premier. It would be the third visit of the Emir of Qatar in six years to Pakistan and second as the ruler of Qatar. Issues related to enhancing bilateral cooperation will be discussed while the appointment of former army chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif as the chief of 39-nation Islamic military coalition formed to combat terrorism and Panamagate plot will also be discussed in the meeting, they added. “Qatar is interested in enhancing its defence procurements from Pakistan while it has provided Pakistan natural gas in different form, at comparatively much cheaper tariff,” sources said, adding,” Talks may prove fruitfull as Pakistan and Qatar enjoy close ties in all spheres of life since Qatar is cooperating with Pakistan generously in the economic field.
The sources further said that the visit of Emir of Qatar is of an official nature and not for ‘Taloor’ hunting. However, ruling elites believe that the upcoming visit of the Emir of Qatar will help facilitate Sharif family in proving that London flats were not owned by them before 2006. Hopefully, Emir of Qatar will hand over important documents about the ownership of London flats to Sharif family,” sources said, adding,” Emir of Qatar will give trust deed to the premier during his upcoming meeting with Premier Nawaz Sharif.”
The sources further said Sharif family can make public the trust deed regarding the ownership of London flats. While the trust deed is said enough to prove that Sharif family was not the owner of London flats before 2006. Thye also said that ruling elite was found confident about the fate of Panamagate investigation as they had been pinning high hopes with the visit of Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. The rulers believed that Emir of Qatar will rescue the Sharif family facing investigations on Panama Papers Leaks in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
It is interesting that earlier during the investigation on Panamagate case Sharif family said they had acquired the London properties with the money earned by selling off their factories in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but later on they have revealed that the four luxury apartments were purchased through offshore investments involving a member of the Qatari royal family. The Sharif family had submitted documentary evidence on the ‘legitimacy’ of their assets before the Supreme Court. The documents claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, bought their London apartment through Qatari investments.
It is worth mentioning here that problems for Sharif family would increase if the honourable court raises questions on the money trail, the arrangement of money, and differences in the statements of Sharif family regarding the money trail, ownership of a flat in London’s upscale Mayfair locale etc. The press secretary of the premier Mohiuddin Wani was contacted repeatedly to get confirmation regarding the visit of Emir of Qatar but all efforts remained in vain as he did not bother to reply. However, an official at PM House has confirmed on the condition not to be named that Emir of Qatar will visit Pakistan very soon as the date is still not confirmed to him.