The Hindu : Shahbaz Sharif will not be allowed to return

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 06, 2002

International

International

Shahbaz Sharif will not be allowed to return

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Aug. 5. Pakistan has asserted that it would not allow Shahbaz Sharif, newly-elected chief of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and brother of the former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, to return to the country. Mr. Shahbaz, along with the entire Sharif clan, went on an exile to Saudi Arabia in December 2000.

The Interior Minister, Moinuddin Haider, claimed that the exile of Mr. Shahbaz and his relatives was part of a deal struck between the Government and the Sharif family. "Shahbaz and other members of the family opted to leave the country as a part of the deal and would be dealt with accordingly,'' he told reporters in Karachi on Sunday.

"Under a deal, they were permitted to leave Pakistan safely and his return would be a violation," Maj. Gen. (retd.) Haider said. According to him, even the Saudi Government would not allow any family member to return to Pakistan, as that was the gist of the agreement.

However, the PML denied any such deal and maintained that its new leader would return to Pakistan to lead the party in the October general elections.

The so-called "exile deal" has been a subject of controversy between the PML and the Musharraf regime ever since the Sharif clan left Pakistan. Several senior functionaries of the Musharraf Government have claimed that under the deal, the regime exonerated the former Prime Minister of all criminal and corruption charges against him and allowed him to go to Saudi Arabia. They maintained that under the agreement, no member of the Sharif family could return to Pakistan and take part in domestic politics for the next 10 years.

On Saturday, Mr. Nawaz Sharif stepped down as the PML chief and nominated his younger brother as the new head. Under the new rules framed by the Government, convicted persons cannot hold party posts.

Interestingly, to a question on the return of the PPP chairperson and former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, Maj. Gen. Haider had said: "She can return to Pakistan and start a plea bargain just like a number of people facing corruption charges have done. In the process she might get relief as well." She could not get rid of the charges against her while staying abroad.

"The only solution is that she should face it over here to end this debate," he said.

Ms. Bhutto has vowed to end her self-exile and return to Pakistan in the next few weeks to take on the Musharraf Government.

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