No deal with Musharraf -Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan, Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif insisted Sunday that he had not cut a deal with President Pervez Musharraf to allow him to return from seven years in exile.

Sharif also vowed to "humiliate" the politicians who supported the "dictatorship" of military ruler Musharraf, the man who ousted him in a bloodless coup in 1999. "I have done no deal with General Musharraf, I will never deal with General Musharraf," Sharif told a cheering crowd during a homecoming procession in the eastern city of Lahore after flying home from Saudi Arabia.

"My deal is with you, the people of Pakistan." He added: "I have spent time in jail and I have spent seven years out of the country. I did it for the sake of Pakistan. If I wanted to come to Pakistan under a deal I would have done that years ago.

"Today Nawaz Sharif is a victor, because he never compromised with dictatorship, he preferred to stay out of the country but refused to have any deals with dictators."

Sharif said candidates from his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party would take part in general elections due on January 8, which Musharraf has indicated will be held under an ongoing state of emergency.

"We will file our nomination papers and humiliate the politicians who supported dictatorship," he added.

Lahore, Monday, AFP