Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif leaves for London for medical treatment

Pakistan's ailing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday left for London in an air ambulance for medical treatment for multiple diseases after the Lahore High Court allowed him to travel abroad for four weeks and rejected the Imran Khan government's condition of furnishing an indemnity bond.

Sharif, 69, is accompanied by his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif and his personal physician Adnan Khan. He left for London via Qatar in a "high-end" air ambulance which arrived from Doha.

PMLN spokesperson Marriyum Auranzeb tod PTI that Sharif would be taken to Harely Street Clinic upon arrival in London for his treatment and if required he may be shifted to the US (Boston) for further treatment.

She said that before the departure the doctors examined Sharif at his Jati Umra residence in Lahore and gave him a heavy dose of steroids and medicines to ensure that his condition remains stable during the travel.

"Former PM Nawaz Sharif will depart for London, UK via Doha, Qatar in an Airbus A-319-133LR / A7-MED Air Ambulance managed by Qatar Airways at 10:00 AM PST.

ETA (HEATHROW/LHR): 06:30 PM GMT Insha'Allah," physician Khan said earlier in a tweet on Tuesday.

An intensive care unit and an operation theatre has been set up in the air ambulance and a team of doctors and paramedics will also be on board, he said in a tweet last night.

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government granted a one-time permission to Sharif for four weeks to travel abroad for his treatment provided he submitted indemnity bonds worth Rs 700 crore.

Sharif challenged this condition in the court terming it 'illegal' and a "trap" of prime minister Khan to use them (bonds) for his political gains.

He recently secured eight weeks bail on medical grounds from the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case in which he was serving seven years imprisonment. He also got bail from the LHC in the money laundering case.

He agreed to go to the UK for treatment, heeding doctors' advice and accepting his family's request. He was scheduled to leave for London on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight on Sunday. However, he could not leave as his name figured in the no fly-list.