ISLAMABAD, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested at Islamabad airport after returning from a long exile Monday, and deported to Saudi Arabia, Pakistani TV reported.
Pakistan has been led by President General Pervez Musharraf since Sharif's democratically-elected government was toppled in a military coup in 1999. Following the coup, Sharif was arrested on corruption and terrorist charges, and exiled to Saudi Arabia in 2000.
A spokesman for the Pakistani government claimed that before Sharif's release from prison in 2000, he had signed an agreement stating that he would take no part in Pakistani politics for the next 10 years.
Before his latest arrest at Islamabad airport, Sharif, who had stated his intention to begin a political fight against President Musharraf upon his return, had planned to head for Lahore, where the headquarters of his opposition movement the Pakistan Muslim league are based, said a representative of the group said.
Roads around Islamabad airport were closed off by police before Sharif's plane touched down, and there were reports of clashes between security forces and Sharif's supporters. There were also reports that more than 2,000 of the former premier's supporters had been arrested in the days leading up to his arrival.
A government spokesman stated that Sharif, who served as Pakistan's premier twice in the 1990s, had been arrested on corruption and money-laundering charges.
Indirect presidential elections are planned for October in Pakistan, and general and local elections for January, 2008. Both Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, another exiled former prime minister, have stated their intentions of taking part in the 2008 elections.
Soon after Sharif's deportation, Christine Hohmann, a spokeswoman for the European Union's executive commission, said that, "In our view the (Pakistani) Supreme Court's ruling of August 23 permitting Sharif to return to Pakistan at any moment is very clear and should be respected." She also added that he should be allowed to defend himself against the corruption charges.
