'Sharif introduced NRO by signing agreement with Musharraf'

Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday made public the agreement signed between former president Pervez Musharraf and the then prime minister, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif in 2000. Malik said that Sharif was the one who had introduced National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by reaching an agreement with the former military dictator. The agreement, which is titled “Confidentiality and Hold Harmless”, had been signed by Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif and Hussain Nawaz on December 6, 2000. Sharif, in the undertaking, acknowledges that he had approved the assistance in the negotiations on his behalf for his release from incarceration in Pakistan. “I’m thoroughly satisfied with the course and results of the negotiations – I also have been kept fully advised on the negotiations,” said the agreement signed by Sharif. Malik said that the Sharif family had violated the agreement as they had returned to Pakistan before the completion of 10 years. He added that Sharif had been in jail before the agreement had been signed and there were criminal cases pending against him.