Maryam Nawaz claims husband's arrest was to divide anti-government alliance

KARACHI: PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has claimed that the arrest of her husband and former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar, was aimed at dividing the opposition's anti-government alliance.

"Don't blackmail me through my family and people around me. Come arrest me if you have courage," The Express Tribune quoted Maryam Nawaz as saying at a presser here where she was flanked by other the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance's leaders, including MaulanaFazlurRehman of JUI-F and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of PPP.

Her remarks came after she tweeted early Monday morning that Safdar had been arrested from a hotel they were staying at in Karachi. She claimed that the police "barged in" while she was "sleeping".

His arrest came a day after Safdar raised anti-government slogans at Muhammad Ali Jinnah mausoleum on Sunday before the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) second power show in Karachi, reports Dawn news. An FIR was registered against Maryam Nawaz, Safdar and 200 others for violating the sanctity of the mausoleum. (IANS)

He was however, released on bail hours later. At the presser, Maryam Nawaz further said that the federal government was trying to give the impression that the Sindh government was behind the arrest, "but Bilawal (Bhutto-Zardari) had called me and he was very angry". (IANS)

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