Riyadh says Nawaz to stay out of politics

ABU DHABI, Dec 12: Nawaz Sharif has been banned from any political activity during his stay in Saudi Arabia, Emirati news agency WAM reported on Tuesday. "Nawaz Sharif will not exercise any political activity during his stay in Saudi Arabia," a Saudi official said.

He said Mr Sharif was now "a guest of Saudi Arabia, his second homeland". The Saudi government will "provide him with a home worthy of a former prime minister who had good relations with Saudi Arabia, and he will receive medical care in one of the biggest hospitals in the kingdom".

Saudi Arabia said King Fahd had offered him asylum on humanitarian grounds, after the former premier's wife said he was suffering from heart problems. "The choice of Saudi Arabia ... is a guarantee he will not take part in political activities hostile to the military regime in Islamabad, something the kingdom cannot tolerate on its territory," a diplomatic source in Riyadh said.

NAWAZ SPEAKS: Nawaz Sharif was quoted on Tuesday as saying he was in good health and high spirits after undergoing medical tests in exile in Saudi Arabia.

Sharif, 51, told the Saudi daily Okaz that he underwent medical tests on Monday at a hospital in the Red Sea port of Jeddah but declined to discuss his exile.

"I am in good health, my morale is high and the tests were satisfactory," said Sharif, who had complained of heart problems in the past month while in detention in Pakistan.

Okaz said the comments were Sharif's first public remarks since he arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for an indefinite exile after being released by the army which overthrew him 14 months ago.

It said Sharif would stay in Jeddah for a few days before flying to the capital Riyadh to continue treatment. The paper said Sharif expressed his gratitude to King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah for agreeing to let him come to the kingdom for medical treatment.