Nawaz finally makes it home
dismisses talk of deal with Govt
Bureau Report

LAHORE—A special plane carrying the PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif and other family members arrived in Lahore from the holy city of Madina on Sunday evening. The convoys of PML-N workers arrived in Lahore to accord rousing welcome to Sharifs. Large welcome banners and pictures of Sharif brothers have been displayed at several places in Lahore.
The special plane Boeing777 carried Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif along with 26 members of their family from the holy city of Madina. The central and provincial leaders of PML-N, lawyers and members of civil society have arrived to receive Sharifs at Lahore Airport. Nawaz Sharif is expected to first visit Data Darba in a procession and address a public meeting. Security had been tightened in Lahore especially on the airport ahead of arrival of the PML-N leader.
Provincial home department has allowed only hundred party leaders to receive Sharifs at the airport, party sources claimed. According to sources, bullet-proof cars for Sharifs reached in Lahore last night from Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the home department said that the authorities have decided to give free hand to Nawaz Sharif but he has not been permitted for holding a public meeting and rally. Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and other family members will be transported to home from the airport, a home department statement said.
However, thousands of PML-N workers succeeded in arriving airport by crossing the barricades put up by police. On this occasion, the workers raised slogans both in favour of Nawaz Sharif and against the government.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he has made no deal with President Pervez Musharraf that would allow him to return to Pakistan after seven years in exile. “Let’s see what happens,” “Let me go back to my country,” he said this while talking to CNN just moments before his plane departed Medina, Saudi Arabia for the flight to Lahore, Sunday afternoon.
Sharif said he has been talking to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan in October, “trying to find common ground” in the opposition to Musharraf’s government. “We both have been interacting over the past few days, so let’s see what comes out of it,” Sharif said. He said that while his alliance — the All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM) — is preparing to participate in the January elections, they would only take part if Musharraf withdraw the emergency declaration he issued on November 3 and release opposition members who have been jailed.
“Everything that was done must be reversed and drawn back completely,” he said. “Just withdrawing emergency will not be enough,” he said. “You must have a level playing field for free and fair elections.” Asked if he could ever agree to a power sharing deal with Musharraf as president and he as prime minister, Sharif answered: “No, no, no, no question.” Sharif said he refused recent attempts by Musharraf — who ousted Sharif in a bloodless coup eight years ago — to meet with him in Saudi Arabia. Sharif said he rejected the offer because the two men “are poles apart.”
British media on Sunday reported that the return of former Prime Minister and chief of Pakistan Muslim League-N will heat up political activities in Pakistan. “The report says re-emergence is a potent addition to Pakistan’s political cauldron, with Musharraf struggling to maintain power against a backdrop of instability and Islamist violence,” the London-based daily, Observer said in a report.
“Musharraf, who ejected Sharif from Pakistan when he tried to return last September, changed his mind last week after a meeting in Riyadh with King Abdullah.” It said: “Musharraf is under international pressure to lift the emergency and make good on promises to resign as head of the army.” The paper also said that General Pervez Musharraf had allowed the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to return to the country after his last week talks with the Saudi monarch, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. “Discussions were carried out on Sharif’s return. The President said there is no issue; he can return if he wants to,” it quoted presidential spokesman, Rashid Qureshi as saying.
“The drama underscores the weight of Saudi influence in Pakistan. Local media reported that Riyadh wanted Sharif, a conservative who, as Prime Minister, once tried to have himself titled ‘Commander of the Faithful’, to return as a counterweight to Benazir Bhutto, a relatively secular and liberal woman,” the report added. The daily also quoted Rashid Qureshi as saying that President Musharraf may take off his uniform on Tuesday. The report said that the Election Commission’s notification on Saturday had cleared him to take the oath as a civilian President ‘after the defeat of all legal challenges to his re-election.’ Exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned home Sunday to crowds of jubilant supporters, adding to the volatility of a country shaken by political turmoil and militant violence. Sharif arrived in his home city of Lahore from Saudi Arabia, where he has spent most of his eight years in exile since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf overthrew him in a 1999 coup. He waved to the cameras from an airport stairwell, dressed in his trademark white shirt and a dark waistcoat, state television showed.
Security forces had rounded up some Sharif activists and attempted to seal off the airport. But 1,000 supporters found a way through tight security around the airport to swarm into the terminal building, waving the green flag of his party and shouting “Musharraf, go!” Police lifted batons to drive them back from the arrivals area, but had no space to swing them amid the dancing, jubilant crowds.
Hundreds more gathered outside the airport perimeter fence and along the route into the city, where loudspeakers mounted on trucks were blaring out patriotic songs. Sharif’s return could prove challenging for Musharraf, particularly if the former prime minister makes an alliance with Benazir Bhutto, another ex-premier who was allowed to return to Pakistan last month. But it is also a potential boon for the general, allowing him to claim that he favors a genuine return to democracy.
Both Bhutto and Sharif are seeking to return to power after Jan. 8 parliamentary elections. But the ballot, which the West hopes will produce a moderate government able to stand up to Islamic extremism, has been thrown into confusion by Musharraf’s Nov. 3 seizure of emergency powers. Major opposition parties — including Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party — have been lining up to take part in the elections with preliminary steps such as filing nomination papers. But Bhutto and Sharif could still agree to boycott the vote. Bhutto said Friday she had not yet decided whether to participate. On Saturday, a loose coalition of opposition groups including Sharif’s party announced it would boycott the election unless the government lifts the state of emergency, restores sacked Supreme Court justices and releases all political prisoners within four days.