Former Pakistani PM arrested after return

ISLAMABAD, Sep 10 (Reuters) Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested and taken into detention on Monday about three hours after arriving home from exile vowing to challenge President Pervez Musharraf.

Police took Sharif from an airport lounge and onto a bus, a Reuters reporter in the lounge said. A government official said he was being arrested on money-laundering and corruption charges.

Sharif's British lawyer, Amjad Malik, said Sharif was taken into detention on a helicopter.

''People in Pakistan should be calm and composed and understand what has happened to their former prime minister,'' Malik said.

''Let's move to court, let's have faith in justice.'' Security forces sealed off Islamabad airport to stop Sharif's supporters approaching. Authorities also blocked the main road to the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Five people were wounded in an exchange of fire when Sharif's supporters tried to force their way through police lines on a bridge on the road to Peshawar, a witness said.

Earlier, police fired teargas and used batons to disperse about 700 Sharif supporters and lawyers about three km (two miles) away from the airport.

The protesters, waving party flags and held up portraits of Sharif, threw stones at police and chanted ''Go Musharraf go''.

Scores of supporters scuffled with police in Islamabad.

Before his arrival, authorities had detained about 4,000 Sharif supporters and several leaders of his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), including the chairman, as well as three leaders of an allied religious alliance, party officials said.

Reuters JT AS1331