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Zaheer Babar and Munir Ahmed, Associated Press
photo: KM Chaudary, AP
Pakistan: Police Arrest Supporters of Sharif
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani police detain dozens of supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said Thursday his party, saying that c & rsquo; Was an attempt to stop them from staging a welcome rally on the return of the fallen leader of London.
The Pakistan Muslim League said dozens of its members were trapped in the eastern province of Punjab. Police said that a hundred of them were being held "to avoid violence".
Sharif, ousted by the Supreme Court for corruption last July, was fined 10 years for buying luxury apartments in London. His daughter, Mariam Nawaz, was sentenced to seven years in prison following a leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm
both sentenced in absentia in Great Britain, where Sharif's wife is hospitalized. He has not yet appealed his conviction and may be in police custody as soon as he arrives in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab where most of the arrests took place on Thursday. His brother, Shahbaz Sharif, who currently heads the Muslim League of Pakistan, said the former prime minister was due back on Friday.
Shahbaz Sharif condemned the arrests, demanded that they arrest and that any detainee be immediately released. He told reporters in Lahore that he was planning to be at the demonstration tomorrow to welcome Nawaz Sharif who is going home with his daughter. "
Meanwhile, Lahore authorities have installed containers and other barricades In a televised call to London supporters Wednesday, Sharif said he was not afraid of jail and asked people to vote for his party in the July 25 vote. The Pakistan Muslim League, which since Sharif's ouster has elected a new leadership, still hopes to win the vote and form the next government.
Sharif also took the opportunity to criticize again the powerful Pakistani army that led the country directly or indirectly. During his tenure, Sharif had criticized the army's involvement in civil affairs and its efforts to fight extremists
. Condolences for the suicide bombing this week that killed secular politician Haroon Ahmed Bilour and 20 others at a political rally. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the city of Peshawar.
On Thursday, the Pakistani army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Acting Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk, presented their condolences. 19659010] Tuesday's bombing was the first election-related violence. He intervened a few hours after the army announced that it would deploy more than 370,000 security forces in polling stations to ensure free, fair and transparent national elections. 19659007 Ahmed reported from Islamabad.
Tags Arrest Minister39s Pakistan party police Prime Sharif supporters
