Nawaz Sharif deported to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan

Several Pakistani television channels reported he was being sent to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Some reported he was flown out on board a Pakistan International Airlines flight, shown taking off.

However, there is no official confirmation.

Earlier in the day, amid high drama, a defiant former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested at the airport shortly after his return from a seven-year exile, setting the stage for a confrontation and serious political challenge to President Pervez Musharraf.

Commandos surrounded the Pakistan International Airlines plane ferrying Sharif, his supporters and media personnel, as it landed at 0915 hours (IST).

Fifty-seven year old Sharif refused to hand over the passport to immigration authorities and continued his defiance on the tarmac. He was not allowed to disembark for 90 minutes.

The passengers on PK-786 were allowed to disembark while Sharif's supporters and the media team stayed in the aircraft.

Former governor Ghulam Mustafa Khar, travelling with the PML-N leader said "Sharif was offered two options.

One was to face arrest and the other deportation. The PML-N leader offered to surrender to Punjab police". Sharif was then taken to an undisclosed destination by a helicopter.

Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid said "all options are still open including deporting him to Saudi Arabia".

Earlier on the eve of his return home, Sharif blamed President Pervez Musharraf for "subverting" the process of improving relations with India, and regretted not having taken any action against him

Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-786 carrying Mr Sharif landed in islamabad at 0845 hrs PST, private TV channel reported.

However, his brother and former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif -- who had already made an abortive attempt to return home in 2004 -- decided to stay back in London at the last minute.

Meanwhile, heavy security arrangements were in place in and around the airport with police manning roadblocks on all the main roads leading to the capital from last night.

A five-km area around the airport was also cordoned off and a security high alert declared.

No one was allowed to enter the airport premises while a heavy contingent of security forces including Rangers and the Elite Force commandos were deputed and armoured vehicles were patrolling the area.

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman, however, said that the airport would not be closed and all domestic and international flights would continue operating according to schedule.

Police had rounded up supporters of former prime minister last night.

MMA leaders Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Liaqat Baloch were also arrested and ordered detained for one month.

PML-N Chairman Raja Zafar-ul-Haq and acting President Javed Hashmi were also detained.

A Punjab police official said around 250 ''trouble makers'' had been picked up, while PML (Nawaz) leaders alleged that as many as 4000 party activists had been rounded up.

The former Prime Minister's flight was delayed by about an hour as one of Nawaz's supporters complained of chest pain and was offloaded.

A large number of party workers, leaders and journalists were traveling along with the former Prime Minister.

Talking to reporters in London before boarding the plane, an upbeat Mr Sharif said, ''We are going, nothing can stop us.''

''I decided to travel in a PIA flight due to the changed scenario because it was feared that if I had booked the flight of any foreign Rairline that would have been cancelled or diverted to other destination on one way or the other,'' he told said to a tv channel onboard the flight.

''The situation of Pakistan is crystal clear before everybody and the Pakistani nation wants to get rid of dictatorship, '' he claimed, adding the ''feeling about my return to homeland is beyond explanation.''

The channel quoted Shahbaz Sharif as saying Nawaz Sharif asked him to stay in London despite ''ardently wanting his company with a view to tackle the situation if he is arrested or deported after arrival in Pakistan.''

Reports quoted Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as saying the government will act according law in the case of a come-back by former Prime Minister and his brother.

''They (Sharif brothers) will be treated according to the law. Law will take its course. Pakistan is a country where the constitution is in place and that will be followed in this case,'' he said in an interview with a foreign TV channel on Sunday night. - DDNEWS