India would have attacked but for Pakistani nukes: Shahbaz Sharif

October 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General, Ashfaq Kayani, secretly met Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif fuelling speculations of all kinds in Islamabad's political circle. According to the Dawn, the secret meeting took place at midnight of September 30 in Rawalpindi where Sharif came to meet the army chief without security and protocol.

June 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the Taliban and other extremist groups are now planning to expand their writ into the province, as the security forces have successfully flushed them out from important locations in the Swat Valley. "There is no doubt that one of their aims is to penetrate into Punjab as well as to stop operation in Swat," The Nation quoted Sharif, as saying.

April 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court will hear May 11 a petition against its order barring former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother from contesting elections or holding public office. The court had March 31 suspended its order of Feb 25 against Shahbaz Sharif, enabling him reclaim his job as the chief minister of Punjab province.

April 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has invited Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim league to rejoin the federal government. Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif held an important meeting with Gilani here on Wednesday.

March 31st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Deposed Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been reinstated on the post following a Supreme Court's stay order against its earlier judgment which disqualified the Sharif brothers' from contesting elections and holding office. The apex court bench headed by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani ordered Shahbaz Sharif's government to be restored with immediate effect till the court announces a final verdict in the eligibility case.

March 31st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan has restored Shahbaz Sharif, brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, as the chief minister of eastern Punjab province, Dawn News reported Tuesday.

March 24th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that he owed his success to his parents' guidance, and thanked his wife Kulsoom Nawaz for her sacrifices and support. Talking to children in a private TV channel programme on Pakistan Day, he said March 23 was an important date for him when he was a child because he did not have to go to school.

March 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Following Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raja Gilani's reconciliation meeting with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, the Shahbaz Sharif government in Punjab may be restored within a week, The News reported. The Pakistan Government will move the Supreme Court to grant a stay order against the earlier decision to disqualify the Sharif brothers on February 24.

March 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will not pressurize the PPP Government to lift Governor's Rule in Punjab before the Supreme Court's verdict on a review petition against the disqualification of the Sharif brothers, the Daily Times has reported. There is a tacit understanding between the PML-n and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani following the successful lawyers' March and the restoration of the judiciary, sources said.

March 17th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A review petition will be filed on the disqualification case of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother following the government's decision to reinstate deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Pakistan's Attorney General Latif Khosa has directed the deputy attorney general to file a review petition in the Sharif brothers' eligibility case, Geo TV channel said.

March 17th, 2009 LAHORE - After days of political bedlam in the country and verbal confrontation between the PML-N leadership and President Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz, seems to have suddenly changed gear into mercy mode. Following the Pakistan government's announcement of reinstating the judiciary and Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif said his party was ready to reconcile with Zardari.

March 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Interior Ministry has denied reports that former Pakistan Prime Minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif are under house arrest. According to The News, the ministry has told the concerned authorities to beef-up security around the Sharif brothers'.

February 25th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Supreme Court Wednesday barred former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from contesting an elected office and declared the election of his younger brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, null and void. This has led to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in Punjab being dissolved.

December 28th, 2008 ISLAMABAD - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was hospitalised Monday after he complained of severe heart pain, Geo TV reported. According to sources, Sharif was attending a seminar of Khwaja Rafiq Foundation in Lahore and during the prayer break complained of chest pain.

December 23rd, 2008 ISLAMABAD - Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said he would personally request President Asif Ali Zardari to take 'stern action' if India furnished evidence of the involvement of Pakistani territory in the Mumbai attacks. Speaking at a Christmas cake-cutting ceremony at the Punjab Chief Minister's Secretariat at Lahore Tuesday, 'he believed the Pakistan government had no link to the blasts', The News reported Wednesday.