Pakistan's Sharif to end exile, confront Musharraf

LAHORE: Nawaz Sharif, the former Pakistani premier ousted by Pervez Musharraf, was set to return from exile Sunday for a fresh confrontation with the military ruler who kicked him out of the country.   

Sharif flies back into a nation in turmoil over Musharraf's emergency rule, rocked by yet another suicide bombing and with opposition leaders split over whether to boycott upcoming general elections.   

Party officials said Sharif would be flying in on a Saudi royal plane and land in the eastern city of Lahore mid-afternoon, where they predicted he would be greeted by hundreds of thousands of supporters.   

A bullet-proof Mercedes car, gifted by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia where Sharif has been living for the past seven years, was flown in separately late Saturday.   

Banners and posters in the party's green colours have been unfurled around the city and his palatial suburban residence washed and renovated.   

"Long Live Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," supporters echoed as they drove around on motorbikes trailing green flags.   

In a sign of potential trouble, however, police erected barbed wire on roads to the airport as a security measure.   

The return of such a strident foe in Sharif will pile further pressure on Musharraf, who has been strongly criticised around the world for refusing to lift the state of emergency he imposed three weeks ago.   

The general has until December 1 to swear the oath as a civilian president for another five years after a compliant Supreme Court -- stripped of most of its previous judges -- confirmed his victory in a presidential poll last month.   

He has already vowed to resign as army chief, which former deputy information minister Tariq Azim said would likely happen Tuesday or Wednesday, with Musharraf taking office a day later.   

Azim, who is close to the military ruler's circle, predicted the emergency would be lifted before general elections on January 8.   

Sharif, who was exiled in December 2000, tried to return in September but was deported hours later despite a court ruling allowing him to live here.   

A senior government official told AFP his return this time follows an "understanding" during a meeting last week with Pakistan's intelligence chief Nadeem Taj and a close aide to Musharraf.   

"He is returning under some understanding and we hope he sticks to it," the official said on condition of anonymity.   
"He must go by the rules and not indulge in confrontationalist politics."   

A government official in Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital, urged Sharif's party against organising a mass welcome rally because of the risk of suicide attacks.   

Twin bombings hit the homecoming parade of another former premier, Benazir Bhutto, in the southern port city of Karachi last month, killing 139 people. She narrowly escaped.   

Meanwhile opposition parties appear split whether they should boycott the January 8 vote, with many arguing that taking part would effectively endorse Musharraf's state of emergency.   

A loose coalition of opposition groups Saturday failed to make an outright decision, instead giving Musharraf four days to lift the emergency or face a boycott.   

Cricket legend Imram Khan, who now leads his own small party, put a brave face on it, saying they had taken "a clear decision... that we do not want to participate in this election. It is a complete fraud."   

However the coalition does not include Bhutto's party, which is the largest opposition group in Pakistan.   

She has been in touch with Sharif about drawing up an agreed strategy and their decision is crucial to whether any boycott will work.   

In further bloodshed, two suicide bombings targeting the security forces killed at least 20 people in Rawalpindi on Saturday, security officials said, although the military put the toll at 15 plus the bombers.   

Most of the dead were in a bus rammed by an explosives-laden van.