PAKISTAN: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia

Only hours after arriving home from exile, former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia. Supporters who have gathered to welcome him clashed with police. Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia on Monday (September 10) within hours of arriving home from exile vowing to end the rule of President Pervez Musharraf. While the deportation has fended-off the immediate challenge from a rival, Musharraf is likely to face a backlash from many Pakistanis already sick and tired of what they see as his dictatorial rule. Authorities had imposed a major clampdown before Sharif flew in from London, detaining many leaders, spokesmen and activists of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party, stopping supporters from travelling to the capital and sealing off Islamabad airport. Sharif's party was unable to mobilise mass protests but small groups of supporters clashed with police as they tried to make their way past police barricades to get to the airport to greet their leader. Five people were hurt in an exchange of fire but protesters later dispersed. Shortly before his arrest, Sharif told Reuters he was happy to be home. "It's a great feeling. Up to here it's fine but beyond, through there, I don't know," he said in the airport lounge, pointing to the exit. Sharif was arrested after a melee in an airport lounge where he and his supporters were taken after a tense 90-minute standoff with authorities on board the aircraft he arrived on. He was deported to Saudi Arabia about four hours after flying into Pakistan, and Saudi sources confirmed he arrived later in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Another former prime minister in exile, Benazir Bhutto, is also expected to try to come home. But she is in talks with Musharraf on a pact with the president, whose popularity has slumped since he tried to fire the Supreme Court chief in March. Sharif's return from seven years in exile was always going to spark a confrontation with Musharraf, who ousted Sharif in 1999 and cast him into exile the following year. Musharraf sent Sharif to Saudi Arabia under what the government says was an agreement that he stay in exile for 10 years. In return, he avoided a life sentence on hijacking and corruption charges. Sharif was dogged by accusations of corruption during his two terms as prime minister in the 1990s. An anti-corruption court last month reopened three cases against him.

ITN Source | September 10, 2007

Tags:. .league. .protests. .mass. .sent. .hurt