LONDON, Aug 26: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif met Saad Hariri, son of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, in late July when the Sharif family was on a visit to Scotland, a source close to Sharif brothers told Dawn here on Sunday.

Responding to a question about a report put out by an Arabic website suggesting that Saad Hariri has held a meeting with Sharif brothers and advised them to abide by the deal with the government and not return to Pakistan, the source dismissed it as disinformation deliberately circulated by interested quarters through what he called an obscure and unknown website.

He said that by not mentioning the date of the meeting, but saying it had taken place last week, the report had attempted to create an impression that the meeting was held after the Supreme Court’s judgment, whereas the last meeting between the two parties took place long before the SC announced its ruling in the case.

Also, he pointed out, the report contradicted itself by stating in the third paragraph that the unnamed “guarantor” of the deal had decided not to interfere any more in the internal affairs of Pakistan.

And to make the report even more menacing for the Sharifs, it further suggested that some unknown global power (the US?), had been investigating whether the Sharifs’ links with Bin Laden were still active. The sources quoted for this ‘gem of information’ is once again an unknown person claiming to be an Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) mediator, Mohamed Faisal.

The source said that the Hariri family and the Sharif family had very cordial and close relations for a long time and they kept on meeting socially.

When asked if any of the three official negotiators now in London —Secretary General NSC Tariq Aziz, President’s Chief of Staff Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Javed and private business tycoon Iqbal Z. Ahmed -- had contacted the Sharif brothers, the source replied in the negative but said if they did then the Sharifs would present to them their position on all the issues under consideration and which was known to every Pakistani.

He also denied that Nawaz Sharif had a meeting with another emissary of Musharraf, Brigadier (retd) Niaz. He did not know if Shahbaz had had a meeting with the brigadier.

In another development, an abridged meeting of the PML-N CWC has been called here on Aug 29 in which Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Iqbal Jhagra, Ahsan Iqbal and some others are expected to participate.

As has already been announced, the PML-N leaders arriving here will be carrying a clear-cut message for Nawaz Sharif to return home before Sept 10.

PML-N sources here are claiming that the ruling PML-Q is already in a state of disarray as a number of their parliamentarians were approaching Sharif brothers for a second chance.

“We have told them clearly that there is no place in our party for the turncoats. But of course, we would certainly consider the cases of those who would declare publicly and that too before Sept 15 that they would not vote for Musharraf if he presented himself for re-election,” said a PML-N insider.