RAWALPINDI: Punjab Chief Minister Shah­baz Sharif left for Doha, the capital of Qatar, for a two-day visit aboard a special plane from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Monday.

Airport sources said the chief minister was accompanied by Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Mohammad Shujaat Azeem and two senior government officials.

Mr Shahbaz Sharif will meet the Emir of Qatar on Tuesday.

The sources said the purpose of the chief minister’s surprise visit was not known, but it was being considered important in the prevailing situation.

Despite repeated attempts, Punjab government spokesman Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri could not be contacted. However, the Punjab Public Relations Department said in a statement issued late in night that the chief minister had reached Qatar.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2014

Opinion

Editorial

Reserved seats
Updated 15 May, 2024

Reserved seats

The ECP's decisions and actions clearly need to be reviewed in light of the country’s laws.
Secretive state
15 May, 2024

Secretive state

THERE is a fresh push by the state to stamp out all criticism by using the alibi of protecting national interests....
Plague of rape
15 May, 2024

Plague of rape

FLAWED narratives about women — from being weak and vulnerable to provocative and culpable — have led to...
Privatisation divide
Updated 14 May, 2024

Privatisation divide

How this disagreement within the government will sit with the IMF is anybody’s guess.
AJK protests
14 May, 2024

AJK protests

SINCE last week, Azad Jammu & Kashmir has been roiled by protests, fuelled principally by a disconnect between...
Guns and guards
14 May, 2024

Guns and guards

THERE are some flawed aspects to our society that we must start to fix at the grassroots level. One of these is the...