Thousands attend funeral of Pakistani ex-PM’s wife in Lahore

LAHORE, Pakistan – Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s wife in the eastern city of Lahore on Friday.

Kulsoom Nawaz, 68, was one of the country’s most well-regarded politicians. She died on Tuesday after months of lying in critical condition at a London hospital. She had undergone surgery for throat cancer last year.

Her body was brought to her home city of Lahore by plane early Friday, and she was laid to rest at her family’s graveyard.

Sharif, who was temporarily freed from prison along with his daughter and her husband, attended his wife’s funeral, as an estimated 10,000 of his supporters gathered outside his house to express their condolences.

Sharif and his two detained family members are serving prison terms for convictions on corruption charges.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court last year disqualified Sharif from holding office and later an anti-graft tribunal convicted him and his relatives. He served as prime minister three times during his political career, which began in the 1980s.

Sharif will be returned to jail along with his daughter and her husband on Monday, when a court is expected to rule on his bail application.

Sharif’s two sons, who live in Britain, missed their mother’s funeral in Lahore. They did not return home to avoid potential arrest over corruption cases. Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz attended a separate funeral for their mother in London on Thursday.