Pak PM Sharif meets Qatar's emir, offers condolences on former emir's death

Islamabad, Jul 13 (PTI) Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday met Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha and offered condolences on the death of the former emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Qatar on Sunday announced that the 74-year-old former emir, who led the country from 1995 to 2013, has died. Sharif, who reached Qatar on a day-long visit on Monday, was accompanied by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Atta Ullah Tarar and other senior officials. In Doha, PM Sharif-led Pakistani delegation called on Sheikh Tamim and "conveyed heartfelt condolences at the sad demise of the Father Emir," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. "He paid rich tribute to the late Father Emir's visionary leadership, statesmanship, and enduring contributions to Qatar's remarkable transformation as well as to regional peace, stability, and development," it said. Sharif recalled with deep appreciation the late emir's visits to Pakistan over the years. He reaffirmed Pakistan's steadfast solidarity with the leadership and people of Qatar during this period of profound grief. Sheikh Tamim thanked the Pakistani delegation for travelling to Doha to personally offer condolences, describing it as "a reflection of the deep-rooted fraternal bonds between the two brotherly countries and peoples." The Sharif family is believed to have close ties with Qatar’s ruling royal family. When Nawaz Sharif was facing a corruption case in Pakistan's Supreme Court in 2016-2017, his family submitted letters from former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani in his defence. However, the Supreme Court did not accept the letters as valid proof of a money trail, and Nawaz Sharif was dismissed as prime minister and subsequently convicted of corruption. PTI SH ZH ZH