Pakistan Deports Musharraf's Opponent Nawaz Sharif
By Khalid Qayum and Khaleeq Ahmed: Bloomberg.com September 10, 2007
Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was exiled to Saudi Arabia after being arrested by police on his arrival at Islamabad International Airport.
Sharif, who had returned from exile to lead a campaign against President Pervez Musharraf, was ousted in a military coup by Musharraf in 1999. He was taken into custody on corruption charges three hours after landing in the capital from London, a government official, who requested anonymity, said by telephone. He was deported by plane about an hour later, the official said.
Supporters of the former premier clashed with police in the capital and nearby Rawalpindi, where officers fired tear gas to disperse crowds, GEO television showed. Two policemen were injured in a shootout with Sharif's followers in Attock, a city about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the capital, GEO said.
Under an agreement in 2000 between Sharif and Musharraf, the exiled politician was banned from returning for 10 years. Pakistan's Supreme Court last month ordered that the former premier and his brother, Shahbaz Sharif, must not be stopped from returning from exile.
``No Pakistani can be denied the right to return to Pakistan,'' Ayesha Tammy Huq, an independent legal counsel, said from Karachi, Pakistan. This is in ``direct confrontation with the Supreme Court,'' she said today in a telephone interview with Bloomberg television.
Sharif was detained on three corruption cases pending against him, the government official said by telephone today. He was given the option of going into exile or being arrested.
Challenge to Musharraf
The opposition leader is mounting a challenge to Musharraf, 64, who plans to run for a second-five year term in presidential elections before Oct. 15. Opposition to Musharraf's rule is at its strongest since he seized power almost eight years ago.
Sharif, 57, who was prime minister from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1999, was convicted of corruption and treason and sentenced to 14 years in prison after the coup. Musharraf pardoned him in 2000 under the exile agreement in which Sharif went to Saudi Arabia. Sharif says he agreed to live in exile for five years.
Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, the chief of Saudi Arabia's intelligence, and Saad Hariri, son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, told a news conference in Rawalpindi on Sept. 8 that Sharif should abide by the 10-year agreement, according to a report in Dawn newspaper yesterday.
Lebanese Mediator
Rafiq Hariri, who was killed by a bomb in 2005, had mediated between Musharraf and Sharif on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government, according to the Dawn report. The Saudi prince said that his government would receive Sharif if he was deported by the Pakistan government.
Aryone World television showed footage of what it said was an official from the government's anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau, reading out the corruption charges to Sharif in the airport lounge.
The government deployed hundreds of soldiers at the airport and blocked roads to keep supporters of the former premier away, said Siddique-ul-Farooq, a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party.
Officials have arrested about 3,000 of Sharif's supporters in the past four days, he added.
To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net
Also See: AP Report
Dawn Report (published before Nawaz Sharif landed in Pakistan): Deportation Plan Ready
Legal position on Nawaz Deportation: Dawn
3 comments:
What I see is that after the dust settles down the person who will come on top will be Mr. Pervez Musharraf & MQM. PML N, Q, P, PPP, MMA, etc., will all neutralize each other none of them will have enough emf to muster any significant support.
Here is another angle to consider: If KSE looses points because the former Prime Minister Sharif is coming Pakistan and gains points when he is not allowed then this increase speaks volumes against former Prime Minister Sharif credentials, trust and his integrity (which these politicians lack).
[i]Pakistan and its people need me[/i] Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. While flying in PIA's business class for the duration of the flight time but 20 minutes prior to landing moves into economy class. He says I am going for the people of Pakistan he should have sat all the time with 'his people' in the economy class.
The most damning item which is the media and commentators have brushed under the rug is the "agreement" the former Prime Minister signed. Why is that this trust which has the former Prime Minister Sharif signature on it is being labeled as being thing of the past and with no weight? Does the SC word is heavier then an agreement between two parties?
Another very important item which media is not covering or has no interest in covering and has never asked or raised an eyebrow is the corruption and arrogance and rotton to core rule of Nawaz Sharif. SHAME ON "PAKISTANI MEDIA"
Same goes to Bad Nazeer.
In Amerika We Have Dick Bush,
Jonny Cash and Bob Hope. In Pakistan We have Bhutto Sharif NO Cash and NO Hope and will not be there as long as our corrupt media covers Bhutto Sharif's Butt.
So called leaders like Imran Khan bitch US and come to US cities Boston etc to beg and collect money for their own cause, What a shameless Munafiq i.e Hippo is Imran Khan, GO HOME IMPU
Imaran Khan The Ibne Ul Waqt, Why he is begging American Money? Go Home and use YOUR OWN MONEY from your own pocket
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