Nawaz Sharif to be granted parole to attend wife Kulsoom's funeral

 Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar would be released on parole for a day to attend the funeral of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, sources said Tuesday.

Kulsoom, the wife of Sharif, died Tuesday in London after a long battle with cancer. She was 68. Her body will be brought back here and buried in Jati Umra Lahore residence of the Sharif family. Sources told PTI that Sharif, Maryam and Safdar are being released on parole to attend the funeral. "Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered to facilitate the Sharif family regarding bringing back the body of Kulsoom and other matters," they said, adding that the government may free the father and the daughter for a day.

"The Sharif family has sought at least a three-day parole," they said. A request is necessary for parole to be granted. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz spokesperson Maryam Aurangzeb told PTI that the party president Shehbaz Sharif had gone to meet his elder brother Nawaz Sharif and niece Maryam at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi to take instructions from them regarding the burial of Kulsoom.

"Her body will be brought back and buried at the Sharif's Jati Umra residence," she said. She said Shehbaz would leave for London to bring the body to Lahore.

To a question whether her sons -- Hasan and Hussain -- would return to Lahore to attend her funeral prayer, she said: "No decision has been taken as yet." It is likely that both sons may not return to Pakistan as they have been declared absconders by an accountability court in the off-shore properties case.