Sharif’s whereabouts still a mystery

a secret location, thought to be near Islamabad, since the military coup that overthrew his government on October 12. Police said last week they expected Sharif to be moved to Karachi today.“When the issue was raised by Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer, the police simply said that he has not been arrested by them,” said an official of the Anti-Terrorist Court.

The official, who did not want to be identified, said the police did not say when Sharif would be brought to court or formally arrested. The court hearing was the first since a seniormilitary officer filed a formal complaint last Wednesday accusing Sharif and four others of criminal conspiracy, hijacking which carries a maximum punishment of death –kidnapping and attempted murder.

The accusations followed an alleged attempt to divert a plane bringing military chief General Pervez Musharraf to Karachi from Sri Lanka after Sharif announced Musharraf’s dismissal. Hours later, Musharraf overthrew Sharif.

Sharif’s lawyer Iqbal Raad told reporters that the police gave the court no evidence and did not say where Sharif was. “Police have nothing against Sharif. They have nothing against him to link him to this case,” he said.

Public prosecutor Feroz Mehmood Bhatti said Sharif would be brought to court only after he was formally arrested by police in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. “He has not been arrested yet so there is no question of telling the court about evidence against him,” Bhatti said.

The four others accused with Sharif were formally arrested on Saturday andbrought to court on Monday. Police requested custody of them so they could be interrogated, and the court said it would rule on the request later.

The four are Ghous Ali Shah, former adviser to Sharif and de-facto chief executive of Sindh province, former Pakistan International Airlines chairman Shahid Khakan Abbasi, former Civil Aviation Authority chairman Aminullah Chaudhry and former Sindh police chief Rana Maqbool.

A special anti-terrorist court in Karachi remanded for three days the four accused, and Judge Rehmatullah Jaffry has granted physical remand of the accused in policy custody under the request of the prosecutors.

The four accused, dressed in traditional salwar-kameez were brought to the court under tight security in four cars with tinted windows, escorted by dozens of armed personnel carriers.

They, along with Sharif, are accused of conspiracy to murder, kidnapping and attempting to hijack a plane on October 12. If convicted, they could face death penalty.

“These allegation arewrong,” Ghous Ali Shah was quoted as saying by News Network Intentional, a local private news agency.

“It is stretching too much. We haven’t done anything like this. We have complete faith in Allah Almighty. This is the use of force,” he said.However, a formal plea will be entered in court at a later date, which so far has not been announced.

Meanwhile, Sharif’s party today filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court demanding the elected Government be reinstated and Sharif be freed. The suit was filed by Zafar Ali Shah, representing Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League. The suit charged the October 12 Army takeover was illegal and unconstitutional.

It asks the court to produce Sharif and his younger brother Shabaz Sharif, former chief minister of eastern Punjab province. Shah said the intentions of the military generals were evident “from the fact that whereabouts of Sharif and his brother are not known.”