Sharif: He Don't Like It Again[*]
The deposed and exiled former prime minister of Pakistan was deported from that country within hours of landing there via plane. The AP:
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was deported to Saudi Arabia Monday, hours after he had landed in Pakistan following seven years in exile hoping to campaign against the country's U.S.-allied military ruler, officials said.
About four hours after he arrived on a flight from London, Sharif was taken into custody and charged with corruption, but then quickly spirited to another plane and flown out of Pakistan toward Jiddah, a close aide to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said….
Among the possible casualties is former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, who was figuring out a way to share power with Musharraf:
Sharif's return was widely seen as a challenge to Musharraf's efforts to reach a possible power-sharing deal with another exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto that would allow him to extend his rule.
But Bhutto herself could face growing opposition among the public, and possibly her own party, to the idea of teaming up with the military leader. Like Sharif, she wants to contest general elections due by mid-January 2008.
Wajid Hasan, Bhutto's spokesman, said Sharif's deportation did not affect Bhutto's plans to return to the country, saying that the Pakistani government cannot deport her as she didn't sign any deal with Musharraf to stay out of the country.
Hasan said that Bhutto planned to announce this Friday the date she will return to Pakistan.
Background post that also explains tortured headline allusions.