Sharif to return next month

UNITED STATES: Exiled former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he hopes to be back in Pakistan by mid-September, despite the risk of arrest upon returning to his homeland.

Sharif, said in a PBS interview taped in London over the weekend that leaders of his party recommended he return as early as possible.

“They say that I should return before the beginning of month of Ramadan... . I think it’s about maybe two or three weeks away,” he said in the interview aired on Monday.

Sharif, who has vowed to oppose a bid by Musharraf for another term in office as president, said he does not fear the possibility that he could be arrested when he goes back to Pakistan.

“I am simply going back to my country, my homeland, after seven years absence. I think I have every right to go back. If the people want to receive me at the airport, why should Mr. Musharraf object to it,” Sharif said. “What is he worried about?”

A Pakistani intelligence official said the government was keen to prevent Sharif’s return before a presidential election but he could come back later.

Asked whether he would confront Musharraf, Sharif said: “There is no confrontation from my side.” He also said he was not engaged in any back-channel talks that would allow him to return without interference.

Sharif warned that it would be a grave mistake for Musharraf to impose emergency rule to quiet opponents, adding that such a move could lead to “chaos in the country.”

He also called on Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister in exile, to abandon power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf. Sharif said the talks violated a charter of democracy the two former leaders signed almost a year and a half ago.

“I think her negotiations with Musharraf will only strengthen dictatorship in Pakistan and it will be serving no cause to democracy,” Sharif said.

Washington, Tuesday, Reuters.