Saudi envoys ask Sharif not to return to Pakistan

Islamabad, Sep 8: Saudi envoy Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz and Lebanese leader Saad Al-Hariri today urged exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif not to return to Pakistan and honour his promise he made to stay away after being ousted from power in a 1999 bloodless coup.

Sharif and his younger brother Shabaz, who were allowed by the Pakistan Supreme Court last month to return and remain in the country as Pakistani citizens, are scheduled to arrive here on Monday amid media reports that the pair may be arrested on arrival.

''The former Pakistan prime minister must abide by the agreement he reached with the then King Fahad bin Abdul Aziz and stay out of Pakistan for ten years,'' Muqrin and Hariri, who air dashed to Islamabad today, told a joint press conference after a meeting with military ruler Pervez Musharraf in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in a bloodless coup in October 1999, went into exile in Saudi Arabia in December 2000 and undertook not to return to Pakistan for ten years under a deal brokered by the Royal Saudi Government and former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri's son Saad Hariri.

''Agreement with Nawaz Sharif was made to facilitate and ensure the stability of Pakistan,'' Prince Muqrin said, adding that the custodian of the two holy mosques helped the Sharif family to get out of imprisonment under the agreement.

Nawaz Sharif was handed down life sentence in several cases of corruption and misuse of national exchequer.

''The Saudi King hopes that for the sake of national interests of Pakistan, all parties concerned will honour and adhere to the terms of the agreement,'' Muqrin said.

He added that his country believes in the security, political stability, progress and prosperity of Pakistan.

Mr Hariri said that he had played the role in securing exile of Nawaz Sharif in 2000 and hoped that he would continue to stay out of the country fulfilling his obligations.

Regarding his recent meeting with the former prime minister in London, Mr Hariri said that he held talks with him to convince him to honour the commitment he had made with the Saudi Arabian Monarch.

According to an undertaking signed by Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz, a copy of which was submitted in the Pakistan Supreme Court, they had agreed not to return to the country and take part in politics for ten years.

UNI