By DPA
Islamabad : The Pakistani government has reopened corruption cases against former premier Nawaz Sharif, days after he moved the supreme court to end the exile imposed on him by President Pervez Musharraf.
Three cases, originally registered in 1999 involving financial irregularities in the purchase of property as well as tax evasion, were put on hold after Sharif was expelled from Pakistan to Saudia Arabia a year later.
But a special accountability court in Islamabad Thursday authorised their resumption and set Aug 25 for the next hearing.
The move is widely seen as a government attempt to bar the former prime minister from re-entering the country even if the supreme court annuls his exile by Musharraf, who deposed him in a military coup in 1999.
Sharif went on to lead an opposition movement to the military ruler from his base in London.
As Pakistan prepares to hold presidential and parliamentary elections, his return would be a major blow to Musharraf, whose authority has been severely undermined by growing Islamic militancy as well as his own conflict with the judiciary this year.
The president suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in March for alleged abuse of office. Chaudhry was reinstated in July amid a wave of protests across the country.
Musharraf last week said that Sharif and another exiled former prime minister and opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, should not return to Pakistan before the elections to avoid causing political turmoil.
However, the general reportedly offered Bhutto a power-sharing deal in a bid to shore up his plans to win re-election for a second term by the current parliament.
The election will take place between mid-September and mid-October, according to the president, who, despite his dealings with Bhutto, has kept the doors closed to Sharif.
General elections to a new parliament are due to follow within three months and will be strongly contested by Bhutto’s mainstream Pakistan People’s Party and Sharif’s centrist Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz.
Sharif has repeatedly said that he would not accept any deal with Musharraf, describing the president as “a drowning man on a sinking ship”.