ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Friday said PML-N's absconder leader Nawaz Sharif would hopefully be brought back from London by January 15 for which all possible legal and diplomatic efforts were being made.

"I assured you, by the grace of Allah Almighty, by January 15, Nawaz Sharif will be in any jail of Pakistan. We are fully active to bring him [Nawaz] back to know the answer that how he made the assets and took the money abroad," he said while addressing a news conference.

The minister said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, would never spare those who looted the national money, saying "Not only the looters of the national kitty will be taken to task through court of law, but also the plundered money will be recovered." The government, he said, would never let happen that children of Sharif family remain staying comfortably abroad after making trillions of rupees assets through illegal means. He said Nawaz and his family members have been talking about the issues of the poor and termed it 'hypocrisy.' Elaborating the government efforts for repatriation of Nawaz Sharif, Shibli Faraz said although at present no extradition treaty existed with the United Kingdom, however "We are in touch with the UK government through diplomatic channels to use all available legal means in that regard."

Commenting on a recent press conference of Maryam Safdar, the minister said she was seemed disturbed after emergence of the CCTV footage of arrest of Safdar Awan, which clearly showed that her spouse was arrested by the Sindh police. Besides, the footages revealed that Safdar Awan was very comfortable with the police, when taken to the police station under a VIP protocol, he added. "In the aired footages, there is no breaking of door and the forced arrest," he said, adding that the federal government would wait for more footages, as being claimed by Maryam, proving the PML-N's stance. He said Safdar Awan and Maryam Safdar created mess and chaos without any regard for sanctity of Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum, adding the incident took place in Karachi which was the jurisdiction of the Sindh police. The minister said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Zardari had taken the revenge of his martyred mother Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto by participating in the drama staged by Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) over the arrest of Safdar Awan.