Naila Inayat

Special for USA TODAY

LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan's highest court removed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office Friday over corruption charges in a landmark decision expected to throw the nuclear-armed nation into political turmoil.

Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf said Sharif was "disqualified for life," although the court did not explicitly ban him from running again. It ordered that criminal charges be filed against him and his family.

Sharif, who resigned following the ruling, is the second world leader to be brought down following revelations in the Panama Papers — documents leaked last year that detailed secret assets held by wealthy people around the world, including many politicians. Iceland's prime minister resigned after the disclosures revealed financial conflicts of interest.

Sharif "is not honest," one of the judge's in the capital of Islamabad said in reading the verdict. The court also removed Sharif's son-in-law, Mohammad Safdar, a lawmaker in parliament, for corruption.

Sharif, who was serving his third term with a year to go, had been a close ally of the United States, particularly in combating terrorism and the Taliban insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan.

The probe into the finances of the prime minister and three of his children showed his family owned expensive homes in London through a string of offshore companies they could not afford based on his income.

The family has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Hussain Nawaz, one of his sons, previously acknowledged owning offshore companies but said the funds used to set up the businesses abroad were acquired legally.

Sharif's supporters vowed to fight on. In a tweet, Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, said her father had returned home, but would "return with greater force." She asked his political party to "stay strong."

"Nawaz Sharif will continue to rule the public’s hearts, even after being disqualified to hold office by the Supreme Court," Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb, a member of Sharif’s party, told reporters after the ruling. "This decision is not surprising but we are disappointed," she said, adding that Sharif will be back.

The court did not bar him from running again.

Pakistan is not due to hold elections until next year. In the meantime, Sharif's governing party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, will select an interim prime minister.

"A new chapter of history has been written today," said Imran Khan, the leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, who has been leading the campaign against Sharif and brought thousands onto the streets over the past year.

"Pakistanis had lost hope for justice," he said.

Sharif has played a dominant role in Pakistani politics for almost three decades. Yet he has had a fraught political life. He was dismissed as prime minister over suspicions of corruption in 1993 by then-President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and the military.

He was elected again in 1997, then overthrown, tried and found guilty of terrorism. He was sentenced to life in prison before going into exile in a deal with Saudi Arabia.

Sharif returned to power in 2013, only for Khan to accuse him of rigging the vote and to pressure the courts to take up the Panama Papers case via petitions.

No prime minister has ever completed a five-year term in Pakistan since it became a parliamentary democracy in 1971. Pakistan has been ruled by the military for much of its existence since independence from Britain in 1947.

Analysts noted that while the military had not intervened in the decision, the powerful institution had given its approval for the proceedings.

"Political instability in Pakistan is rooted in the civil-military tension — Nawaz Sharif's disqualification disables Pakistan," said Mohammad Waseem, professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences. "The situation doesn't look hopeful. We still have a long way to go before a smooth transition."

The political turmoil could hurt the country's economic progress. Pakistan has become more stable over the past few years after receiving a loan from the International Monetary Fund to avoid a debt crisis in 2013.

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