Pakistan court hears ex-PM's exile appeal

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 9 (AFP): Pakistan's Supreme Court Thursday began deliberating an application by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to have his exile overturned and be permitted to return to the country.
Sharif lodged his appeal earlier this month to end seven years of exile which began when he was overthrown in a coup by military ruler President Pervez Musharraf in October 1999.
The application was heard by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was suspended by Musharraf on allegations of corruption and conflict of interest before being reinstated by the Supreme Court last month.
"It is Nawaz Sharif's unconditional and unequivocal right to return to the country, which cannot be either curtailed or denied," his lawyer Fakharuddin Ibrahim told the court.
Returning to Pakistan was a "fundamental right," Ibrahim said, adding that Sharif's desire to come home was "linked with his concerns for the future of democracy in the country."
"We are concerned with the future of parliamentary democracy in the country, which cannot be undone by a gentleman in uniform," Ibrahim said, referring to Musharraf.
The appeal comes after Sharif and another former premier, Benazir Bhutto-who is living in self-imposed exile due to corruption charges-have both said they would return to Pakistan for elections that are due by early next year.
Sharif still officially heads his faction of the conservative Pakistan Muslim League party from exile, while Bhutto is the leader of the centrist Pakistan People's Party.