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ISLAMABAD : Saudi Arabia and an influential Lebanese politician on Saturday joined calls by Pakistan for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to scrap plans to return to the country next week.
Saad Hariri, son of assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, and Saudi intelligence chief Miqrin bin Abdul Aziz said Sharif must honour the deal that sent him into exile seven years ago.
"Nawaz Sharif must honour his commitment," Hariri told reporters after a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf.
"Such (an) agreement was made to facilitate and ensure the stability of Pakistan," Hariri said.
"For the sake of the national interest of Pakistan we hope that he will honour and adhere to the terms of the agreement," the Saudi intelligence chief added.
Hariri arrived here early Saturday following a London meeting with Sharif, who was toppled in Musharraf's 1999 military coup and plans to return to Pakistan on Monday.
Hariri said his family was involved in the Saudi-brokered 2000 exile deal which compelled Sharif to live in oil-rich Middle East country.
Sharif was sentenced to life in prison on tax evasion and treason charges but released in December 2000 on condition that he and his family live in exile in Saudi Arabia for 10 years.
"The custodian of the two Holy Mosques helped the Sharif family to get out of imprisonment under such agreement," Hariri said, referring to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
He said the king "hopes for the sake of the national interest of Pakistan that all parties concerned with the agreement will honour and adhere to the terms of the agreement."
Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz, who left Saudi Arabia for London last year, won a Supreme Court battle in August against their banishment and said they were returning home on September 10 to challenge Musharraf.
Hariri said they respected the Supreme Court decision but "would like to see Nawaz Sharif honour his exile commitment also."
Sharif has denied any agreement exists, and a spokesman for his party ruled out any change in his plans to return.
"He is returning under the verdict of the Supreme Court of Pakistan," central information secretary Ahsan Iqbal told AFP.
Iqbal criticised Musharraf's attempts to involve Saudi Arabia in the internal politics, saying it would have "serious implications" for the relations between the two countries.
"He (Musharraf) is talking to Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan Peoples Party but he is afraid of our leader," he said.
Musharraf, facing his worst political crisis at home, has asked Sharif to abide by the agreement as his return would destabilise the political environment ahead of general elections expected in next five months.
"They should honour their commitment. Their commitment was with the leadership of a third country which has very close ties with Pakistan," Pakistan Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told AFP on Saturday.
"If Nawaz Sharif breaks this commitment he will create a bad perception about Pakistan in the Middle East."
The planned return of the brothers, coupled with Sharif's growing popularity at home, has added to the pressure on military ruler Musharraf.
An apparently nervous government has ordered a police crackdown against Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz workers and party leaders claim hundreds have been arrested in different parts of the country.
The party alleged the crackdown was aimed at disrupting plans to celebrate the return of the Sharifs.
An anti-terrorism court Friday ordered the arrest of Shahbaz in a murder case and the government asked another court to grant an arrest warrant for Nawaz on corruption charges.
- AFP /ls
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