Sharif spurns Saudi request not to return

Pakistan's exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will return on September 10 to challenge President Pervez Musharraf despite a request from Saudi Arabia not to go back, his party spokesman said

Pakistan’s exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will return on September 10 to challenge President Pervez Musharraf despite a request from Saudi Arabia not to go back, his party spokesman said on Wednesday.

Sharif was ousted by army chief Musharraf in 1999 and exiled to Saudi Arabia the following year after being sentenced to life in prison on hijacking and corruption charges.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled last month that Sharif’s had an “inalienable right” to return home but the government said he had pledged, in an agreement guaranteed by Saudi leaders, to stay in exile and out of politics for 10 years.

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An unidentified Saudi government official urged Sharif on Tuesday to honour his commitment not to go to Pakistan and take part in politics, according to a report from the official Saudi Press Agency, published on its website.

“Wisdom demands that Nawaz Sharif should commit himself to the promises he made,” the Saudi official was quoted as saying.

Sharif still faces corruption charges in Pakistan.

But a spokesman for Sharif’s party said the two-time prime minster was sticking to his plan to come home and he criticised Musharraf for dragging Saudi Arabia into Pakistani politics.