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Former Prime Minister Sharif Deported From Pakistan

September 10, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Pakistani officials say former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been sent back to Saudi Arabia, where he had been living in exile since 2000.

Sharif was deported by Pakistani security forces shortly after his plane landed at Islamabad airport this morning.

In Brussels, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, Christianne Hohmann, said Sharif should be allowed to return to Pakistan under a Supreme Court ruling issued last month.

Sharif was ousted by current President Pervez Musharraf in a coup in 1999. He was charged with hijacking and corruption and jailed for a year before his life sentence was changed to exile.

'This Is My Agenda'

Before boarding the plane in London on September 9, Sharif told reporters that he was returning home to challenge Musharraf's military rule in an election that is expected to take place later this year.

"This opportunity will not come again," Sharif said. "It is rare that such opportunities arise. The whole country should take advantage of this opportunity, and 160 million people must get their rights back. I have no other agenda. This is my agenda. This is the vision in my mind and this is my mission."

Earlier today, Sharif's supporters gathered near the airport to welcome him, chanting, "Go, Musharraf, go!"

News agencies report that police clashed with Sharif's supporters and arrested some of them, including several members of the former prime minister's Muslim League party.

Sharif served two times as Pakistani prime minister in the 1990s.

He was first elected in 1990, after Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was dismissed.

Three years later, Sharif was sacked on corruption charges.

Sharif won the premiership again in 1996 after the dismissal of Bhutto's second government on corruption charges.

Bloodless Coup

In 1998, Sharif appointed Musharraf as chief of the military, but relations between the two reportedly soured over the conflict in the disputed region of Kashmir with neighboring India.

Suspecting that Musharraf was planning to overthrow him, Sharif tried to sack the army leader while he was flying back from Sri Lanka.

However, the army ended Sharif's rule in a bloodless coup, installing Musharraf as chief executive.

After his year in prison, Sharif was sent in exile to Saudi Arabia in December 2000, along with several members of his extended family. The Pakistani government announced at the time that Sharif and his family would stay out of the country for 10 years.

Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org