Sharif could be deported to Jeddah after few days

Islamabad, Sept 10: Sources are indicating that there is a possibility of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif being deported to Jeddah, as some persons have boarded the plane for holding talks with him.

They further said that besides security personnel, immigration officials were also present in the aircraft.

The News quoted sources as saying that one standby aircraft is also present at the airport here.

Commandos have surrounded Sharif"s plane at Islamabad Airport, and he has refused to hand over his passport to immigration officials, a news agency reported.

Sharif returned to Pakistan after seven years in exile. He left overnight from London"s Heathrow Airport on board PIA flight PK-786.

Police have sealed off roads leading to the Islamabad Airport, and heavy contingents of security force have been deployed at the Lahore and the Karachi Airports.

Large numbers of police barricades have been set up on the roads leading to the airport.

Boarding his plane in London, Sharif said that if he is arrested upon arrival in Pakistan that would be "a small price to pay for the country's freedom."

"I have a duty, I have a responsibility, I have a national obligation to fulfil at all costs and that is democracy," he added.

The Punjab Government has enforced Section-144 across the province.

Tight security arrangements have also been made at Peshawar Airport, including other large airports of the country.

A group of political supporters and journalists are also travelling with Sharif on a Pakistan International Airlines flight, which was delayed by more than one hour as a passenger was apparently taken ill. ANI>