ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was deported Monday hours after he had landed in Pakistan from seven years in exile hoping to campaign against the country's U.S.-allied military ruler, officials said.
About four hours after he arrived on a flight from London, Sharif was taken into custody and charged with corruption, but then quickly spirited to another plane and flown out of Pakistan toward Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, an intelligence official said.
An official in President Gen. Musharraf's office confirmed Sharif was deported but did not divulge his destination. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media. There was no immediate formal confirmation from the government.
Pakistan's Dawn News TV and ARY TV networks also reported that Sharif's destination was Jeddah.
Sharif's deportation came despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling last month that the two-time former premier, whose elected government was ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, had the right to return to Pakistan and that authorities should not obstruct him.
"It is a violation of the constitution, and it is a violation of the court order under which Nawaz Sharif was allowed to arrive and stay in Pakistan," Sadique ul-Farooq, a close aide to Sharif told The Associated Press ...
Bookmarks