Saudi Arabia and an influential Lebanese politician on Saturday joined calls by Pakistan for Nawaz Sharif to scrap plans to return to the country next week. Saad Hariri, son of assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, and Saudi intelligence chief Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz said Nawaz must honour the deal that sent him into exile seven years ago.
"Nawaz Sharif must honour his commitment," Hariri told reporters after a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf. "Such (an) agreement was made to facilitate and ensure the stability of Pakistan," he said.
"For the sake of national interest of Pakistan, we hope that he will honour and adhere to the terms of the agreement," the Saudi intelligence chief said. Hariri arrived here early Saturday following a London meeting with Nawaz, who plans to return to Pakistan on Monday.
Hariri said his family was involved in the Saudi-brokered 2000 exile deal, which compelled Nawaz to live in Saudi Arabia. "The custodian of the two Holy Mosques helped the Sharif family to get out of imprisonment under such agreement," Hariri said, referring to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
He said the king "hopes for the sake of the national interest of Pakistan that all parties concerned with the agreement will honour and adhere to the terms of the agreement." Hariri said they respected the Supreme Court decision, but "would like to see Nawaz Sharif honour his exile commitment also."
Nawaz denied that any agreement existed, and a spokesman for his party ruled out any change in his plans to return. "He is returning under the verdict of the Supreme Court of Pakistan," Ahsan Iqbal told AFP.
He criticised Musharraf's attempts to involve Saudi Arabia in the internal politics, saying that it would have "serious implications" for the relations between the two countries. "He (Musharraf) is talking to Benazir Bhutto but he is afraid of our leader," he said.
Musharraf, facing his worst political crisis at home, has asked Nawaz Sharif to abide by the agreement, as his return would destabilise the political environment ahead of general elections expected in next five months.
"They should honour their commitment. Their commitment was with the leadership of a third country, which has very close ties with Pakistan," Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told AFP on Saturday. "If Nawaz Sharif breaks this commitment, he will create a bad perception about Pakistan in the Middle East." The planned return of the brothers, coupled with Nawaz Sharif's growing popularity at home, has added to the pressure on Musharraf.
An apparently nervous government has ordered police crackdown against Nawaz Sharif's PML-N workers, and party leaders claim that hundreds have been arrested in different parts of the country. The party alleged that the crackdown was aimed at disrupting plans to celebrate the return of the Sharif brothers.