Sharif to blame for his problems, says Pak press

"If Nawaz Sharif could turn back the clock, he would rewind it to the time he ruled the country like a king," said a news daily editorial.

"The mighty man of yesterday is now a pitiable convict," it said.

It added that Sharif’s sentence of life in prison was a personal blow, and highlighted the fact he had been found guilty of hijacking and terrorism. "The lion is now the bull’s eye," it said.

The charges against Sharif stemmed from his attempt on October 12 to prevent a plane carrying then-Army Chief Musharraf and 198 passengers from landing at Karachi.

The flight from Sri Lanka landed after the Army took control of Karachi airport and Musharraf then seized power in a bloodless coup.

Karachi anti-terrorism court judge Rehmat Hussain Jaffri also ordered Sharif’s property confiscated and fined him 500,000 Rupees (10,000 dollars).

The Frontier Post newspaper termed the conviction a "sad moment in the history of the country."

"He wanted absolute power that is why he and his associates came within a whisker of the heinous hijacking crime," it said.

The Karachi daily Dawn said: "The plane case was seen as crucial for the present administration as providing a moral (not a constitutional) rationale for the October 12 takeover, and to that extent General Pervez Musharraf and his team will feel that they have been vindicated."

But it added "there is a whole legal and political morasssurrounding it which must await a full judgement to be properly unravelled."

The paper expressed relief the judge did not condemn Sharif to death.

"Irrespective of the legal interpretation of the matter, there will be relief that, in view of Pakistan’s delicate internal and external situation, the judge chose to disregard the prosecution’s plea for Nawaz Sharif to be awarded the death penalty," it said.

Dawn said Pakistan’s struggle to prevent an economic collapse "cannot afford to face further upheavals."

Lahore’s The Nation daily said the government should not appeal for a death sentence.

"It would be more advisable for the government to close the chapter now," it said. "It should try to bring Pakistan out of isolation, revive the economy, and increase vigilance on the borders."