The purported agreement made with the then military dictator General Pervez Musharraf, which led Nawaz Sharif to go into exile, was made public on Tuesday by federal minister for interior Minister Rehman Malik. The agreement surfaced at a time when Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a final chance to government for implementing its verdict on controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by January 16.
Speaking at a press conference, Malik claimed that Nawaz Sharif was the one who had first floated the idea of NRO by reaching an agreement with the then military dictator to save his skin. The agreement, which is titled 'Confidentiality and Hold Harmless', was signed by Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif and Hussain Nawaz on December 6, 2000.
The agreement, produced by the interior minister before the media persons, showed that Nawaz Sharif had acknowledged that he got released on the basis of the above mentioned agreement. "I'm thoroughly satisfied with the course and results of the negotiations...I also have been kept fully advised on the negotiations," said Nawaz Sharif, according to that agreement.
Rehman Malik alleged that the Sharif family had violated the agreement as they returned to Pakistan without completing 10 years in Saudi Arabia after singing pardon deal with Pervez Musharraf. He further said that before striking the deal with Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif was in jail and criminal cases were pending against him. To a question, Malik said that it was not only the PPP but other political parties also took advantage of the NRO.
Meanwhile, the PML-N immediately rejected the move saying, it was not a pardon agreement between Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif. "Sharif family wrote an apology letter to the then President Muhammad Rafique Tarrar for early release only," said PML-N Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan. According to him, it is an effort by the government not to implement Supreme Court judgement on NRO. He added that the agreement made public by Rehman Malik was a 'fake document'.
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