By IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif arrived at the capital’s international airport by Pakistan International Airways flight PK 786 Monday morning after seven years in exile, local TV channel Geo reported.
In a last-minute development, Nawaz Sharif’s brother, former Punjab chief minister and fellow exile Shahbaz Sharif, stayed back in London instead of accompanying Nawaz back home.
Tight security was in place around the airport and electronic jamming equipment was being used to prevent media from covering the arrival, DPA reported. Thousands of members of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were arrested on their way to the airport and in the days leading up to the much-publicised return.
The Pakistani Army had deployed a force of 7,000 to close all roads leading to the airport since early morning and stopped a large PML-N rally at the city centre, Dawn news reported. Scuffles broke out in the process of stopping the rally. Security forces beat protesters with sticks, used tear gas and arrested a number of rally participants, including senior PML-N leaders.
One unconfirmed report said that the authorities were planning to take Nawaz Sharif from Islamabad to Lahore by an air force helicopter, while another unconfirmed report said another aircraft was standing by to whisk Sharif away to an unknown destination.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court had earlier permitted Sharif to return to the country.
Sharif’s original plan had been to move from Islamabad airport to his stronghold Lahore – the capital of the Punjab province – in a motorcade along the historic Grand Trunk Road.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf ousted Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. The former prime minister was jailed in 2000 and then went into exile. Musharraf has insisted that under a secret exile agreement which let him out of jail, Nawaz Sharif had to stay away from Pakistan for ten years, while Sharif has said the agreement was for five years only.