NYT : Pakistan Edgy as Ex-Premier Is Exiled Again

Pakistan Edgy as Ex-Premier Is Exiled Again

By CARLOTTA GALL | September 11, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 10 — Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, faced the prospect of fresh clashes with a newly independent Supreme Court after deporting a former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, as he tried to return from exile on Monday.

Pakistan’s military government moved harshly against Mr. Sharif, deporting him within four hours of his arrival and arresting almost the entire leadership of his party as they tried to travel to the airport to greet him.

The government action appeared to flout a recent Supreme Court ruling ordering that Mr. Sharif be allowed to return to Pakistan unhindered, and it immediately ignited street protests among Mr. Sharif’s supporters. The Supreme Court could order an investigation into who was responsible for the deportation.

Mr. Sharif, 57, a bitter rival of General Musharraf, who ousted him in a coup in 1999, has spent much of his last seven years in exile in Saudi Arabia under an agreement to leave Pakistan for 10 years in return for having his jail sentences for corruption and hijacking commuted. The government has insisted that he should fulfill the agreement and remain in Saudi Arabia, where he was sent on Monday.

In Washington, Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman, said that Mr. Sharif’s deportation “runs contrary to the Supreme Court ruling.” But, he added, “it’s still a pending legal matter, and we would want all parties to act in accordance with the law.”

One Bush administration official, declining to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue, said the deportation was “not necessarily the worst thing that could happen.” While the United States is loath to appear publicly as if it is interfering in Pakistan’s politics, the Bush administration has been urging General Musharraf to agree to a power-sharing deal with another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

The power-sharing pact was viewed within the Bush administration as a way to both shore up General Musharraf’s rapidly flagging support in Pakistan and stop him from exercising emergency powers, as hard-liners within his party have urged.

A deal appeared close two weeks ago but stalled as some of General Musharraf’s backers in Pakistan balked at the idea, American and Pakistani officials said.

The Bush administration official said that one hope now was that General Musharraf’s strong move against Mr. Sharif would enable him to stand up to Mr. Sharif’s allies in Pakistan and go ahead with the power-sharing deal.

Mr. Sharif’s return had been expected to further upset Pakistan’s political scene and galvanize the political opposition, which has been led by a lawyers’ movement that has already declared General Musharraf’s continued rule unconstitutional. Without his presence, the opposition may center on the courts, rather than political rallies. In an interview during the flight from London, Mr. Sharif, the strongest opponent of military rule in Pakistan, had warned that he might be arrested. He nevertheless looked shocked as he was served with a warrant for his arrest on money laundering charges, and then was pushed and pulled by police officers and plainclothes intelligence officials through which the throng of his supporters and journalists who had accompanied him.

“I am amazed by this fabricated case,” Mr. Sharif said as he was shoved through the crowd. “I’m amazed, I’m shocked.” Azhar Mahmud Qazi, a retired lieutenant colonel and a court official representing the National Accountability Bureau, which is the main corruption investigation body, said he served an arrest warrant on Mr. Sharif, charging him with money laundering. He said that the charges were the results of a three-year investigation surrounding a paper mill owned by Mr. Sharif, and that the amount involved was about $21 million.

Government officials who arrested him said he would be sent to prison. But later, Tariq Azim Khan, the state minister for information, said Mr. Sharif, given a choice, had decided to go to Saudi Arabia instead.

“While he was being taken to detention, he was offered, if he wanted, to avail the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia as per the agreement,” Mr. Khan said. “He opted to go to Saudi Arabia. We arranged a special flight and he flew out of Islamabad.”

Mr. Sharif’s lawyers condemned his arrest and deportation as illegal, and warned that the repercussions would be felt in the courts and across the country.

“The whole episode was very unlawful and was a clear contempt of court,” said Amjad Malik, a British lawyer accompanying Mr. Sharif. “It is a violation of the law of Pakistan. It is a criminal offense to kidnap someone and take them out of the country.”

He added, “It is a sad day — they have really treated the man contemptuously.”