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ISLAMABAD : Pakistan deported former premier Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia on Monday, hours after he returned from exile vowing to ignite a popular campaign to oust military ruler President Pervez Musharraf.
In a dramatic showdown at Islamabad airport, the 57-year-old Sharif refused to hand over his passport as he came home from seven years abroad, sparking an immediate confrontation and prompting police to board his plane.
The two-time premier, ousted by close US ally Musharraf in a bloodless 1999 coup, was then arrested on corruption charges and put on a plane to the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah four hours after he touched down.
The deportation warded off an immediate threat to the embattled Musharraf after Sharif pledged his return would be the "final push to the crumbling dictatorship" of the general.
Musharraf is facing the worst crisis since he took power amid a wave of political turmoil and Islamist violence, with his bid to be elected for a new five-year term as president due in a few weeks.
"Nawaz Sharif is now out of Pakistan. He is going back to Saudi Arabia," Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul Haq told AFP.
"The Saudis have openly demanded his return to Saudi Arabia. He has not only embarrassed Pakistan but also the leadership of Saudi Arabia by violating the agreement," he said.
Saudi officials later confirmed Sharif had arrived in Jeddah.
Sharif had agreed to remain in Saudi Arabia until 2010 as part of a deal that saw him released from prison, where he was locked up on corruption charges soon after Musharraf's coup.
The deportation defied Pakistan's increasingly independent Supreme Court, which has been sparring with the president and last month ordered the government not to hinder Sharif's homecoming.
The European Union urged the Pakistani government to respect the ruling, adding that Sharif should have the chance to defend himself in a Pakistani court.
In Washington, a White House spokesman described the deportation as an "internal matter" but noted that upcoming elections should be "free and fair."
Neighbouring India also said the incident was an internal matter and expressed hope Pakistan would remain peaceful and stable.
Sharif arrived early in the morning on a Pakistan International Airlines flight from London. He shook people's hands and his supporters on board chanted "Go, Musharraf! Go!" and "Long live Nawaz Sharif," a passenger told AFP.
But the mood changed after Sharif was taken to the VIP lounge and served arrest warrants in connection with a graft case involving defaulted loans.
"While he was being taken to a detention facility he was told that he could still take up the Saudi agreement. He opted for an easy way out and said he would like to do so," deputy information minister Tariq Azeem told AFP.
Baton-wielding police clashed with around 100 of Sharif's supporters and arrested key members of his party as he returned, while security forces threw up a five-kilometre security cordon around Islamabad airport.
Another five Sharif supporters were injured in an exchange of fire with police in northwestern Pakistan, while around 1,000 people clashed with authorities in a nearby area, police said.
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party condemned his deportation and filed a legal challenge in the Supreme Court, saying the government was in contempt of court.
His brother Shahbaz, who was due to travel with Sharif from London but changed his plans at the last minute, said Sharif would again try to return home.
"Those who kidnapped Nawaz Sharif and sent him out of the country are grossly mistaken. Nawaz Sharif will be back in Pakistan soon," Shahbaz told a private television channel from London.
After being ousted in 1999, Sharif was sentenced to life in prison for tax evasion and treason but was released in December 2000 on condition that he and his family live in exile in Saudi Arabia for 10 years.
The Supreme Court ruled last month that they could fly back. The court has repeatedly proved to be a thorn in the side of Musharraf since he tried to sack its chief judge, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, earlier this year.
That bid set off the protests which spiralled into a full-blown political crisis for Musharraf, who has recently been negotiating a power-sharing deal with another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, to try to stay in office.
Bhutto has said she will announce a date for her own return on Friday.
Musharraf has also faced growing criticism from the United States, which has taken him to task over Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants operating on Pakistani soil and urging him to make good on pending elections. - AFP/de
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