Sharif supporters, police clash in Pakistan
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
ISLAMABAD, Sept 10 (Agencies): Pakistani police arrested key supporters of former premier Nawaz Sharif and clashed with around 100 others as they tried to reach Islamabad airport to welcome him on his return from exile.
The activists from Sharif's faction of the Pakistan Muslim League party had their cars halted by police about five kilometres (three miles) from the airport and then tried to walk, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Police hit some people with sticks and arrested dozens of senior party members including Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, the party's secretary general, the reporter witnessed.
They also detained leaders of several nationalist parties.
More than 1,000 police were deployed to seal off the airport as Sharif's flight from London touched down early on Monday.
Police fired tear gas and supporters threw rocks in at least two locations near Islamabad and also a bridge on main highway leading to the capital from Pakistan's northwest frontier. Several people were injured at each clash, Associated Press reporters said.
"We wanted to get to the airport to welcome the person who has challenged the dictator," said Asif Ali, one of the Sharif supporters near Islamabad. "We were tear-gassed and baton-charged."
Former President Rafiq Tarar, a Sharif loyalist, said he was roughed up in one confrontation. He declared the government was "anti-Pakistan." Witnesses said Tarar was later arrested.
At least four other senior opposition leaders were also put under house arrest, officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Iqbal Cheema said they were arrested "to ensure the maintenance of public order," under a regulation that allows authorities to detain suspects for up to three months without charge.
Sharif was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia seven years ago after he was convicted of terrorism and hijacking charges in Pakistan following the coup. Under a deal with Musharraf, Sharif allegedly promised to stay away for 10 years.
Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said Saturday in Islamabad that Sharif should respect the agreement and that Saudi Arabia was ready to take him back.
After arriving by a Pakistan International Airlines flight from London, it had initially appeared Sharif was being arrested but would be allowed to stay in the country.
Sharif was surrounded by black-uniformed commandos inside the plane then shifted to the airport's VIP lounge, where a senior investigator from Pakistan's anti-corruption body served an arrest warrant.
The investigator, Azhar Mahmood Qazi, said Sharif was being arrested on money-laundering and corruption charges stemming from a sugar mill business several years ago. Sharif was accused of laundering $21.2 million, he said.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of Pakistan's ruling party, said Sharif had been given a choice of going into exile again or be arrested. He said Sharif had chosen detention.
But it soon emerged soon after Sharif was being flown out of the country to Saudi Arabia.
He had planned to travel in a grand motorcade to his home and political base in Lahore, about 180 miles to the south of Islamabad, to kickstart his campaign against 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 now will likely face growing opposition within 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.
Bhutto says she also plans to return to Pakistan, regardless of the outcome of the talks with Musharraf. She is due to announce her return date on Sept. 14
The activists from Sharif's faction of the Pakistan Muslim League party had their cars halted by police about five kilometres (three miles) from the airport and then tried to walk, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Police hit some people with sticks and arrested dozens of senior party members including Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, the party's secretary general, the reporter witnessed.
They also detained leaders of several nationalist parties.
More than 1,000 police were deployed to seal off the airport as Sharif's flight from London touched down early on Monday.
Police fired tear gas and supporters threw rocks in at least two locations near Islamabad and also a bridge on main highway leading to the capital from Pakistan's northwest frontier. Several people were injured at each clash, Associated Press reporters said.
"We wanted to get to the airport to welcome the person who has challenged the dictator," said Asif Ali, one of the Sharif supporters near Islamabad. "We were tear-gassed and baton-charged."
Former President Rafiq Tarar, a Sharif loyalist, said he was roughed up in one confrontation. He declared the government was "anti-Pakistan." Witnesses said Tarar was later arrested.
At least four other senior opposition leaders were also put under house arrest, officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Iqbal Cheema said they were arrested "to ensure the maintenance of public order," under a regulation that allows authorities to detain suspects for up to three months without charge.
Sharif was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia seven years ago after he was convicted of terrorism and hijacking charges in Pakistan following the coup. Under a deal with Musharraf, Sharif allegedly promised to stay away for 10 years.
Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said Saturday in Islamabad that Sharif should respect the agreement and that Saudi Arabia was ready to take him back.
After arriving by a Pakistan International Airlines flight from London, it had initially appeared Sharif was being arrested but would be allowed to stay in the country.
Sharif was surrounded by black-uniformed commandos inside the plane then shifted to the airport's VIP lounge, where a senior investigator from Pakistan's anti-corruption body served an arrest warrant.
The investigator, Azhar Mahmood Qazi, said Sharif was being arrested on money-laundering and corruption charges stemming from a sugar mill business several years ago. Sharif was accused of laundering $21.2 million, he said.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of Pakistan's ruling party, said Sharif had been given a choice of going into exile again or be arrested. He said Sharif had chosen detention.
But it soon emerged soon after Sharif was being flown out of the country to Saudi Arabia.
He had planned to travel in a grand motorcade to his home and political base in Lahore, about 180 miles to the south of Islamabad, to kickstart his campaign against 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 now will likely face growing opposition within 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.
Bhutto says she also plans to return to Pakistan, regardless of the outcome of the talks with Musharraf. She is due to announce her return date on Sept. 14