Canadian High Commissioner Ferry De Kerckhove met with Sharif for 15 minutes in Islamabad, together with the Malaysian High Commissioner. Both were representing the Commonwealth, he said.

"He was in good health. Evidently he was well taken care of," De Kerckhove told AFP, adding, "He told me he was treated with respect and dignity."

The high commissioner said he could not reveal where he had met Sharif but said it was not the building in which he is being held. He would not say what was discussed.

The meeting was apparently Sharif's first contact with a foreign diplomat since he was ousted in a military coup last month.