The New Nation - Internet Edition

BBC Online

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has returned home to Pakistan after eight years in exile.

Sharif, who was toppled by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 1999, arrived in Lahore from Saudi Arabia.

Supporters had been celebrating his anticipated return, although reports say hundreds have been arrested by Pakistani security forces.

It comes amid a political crisis in Pakistan, which has been placed under emergency rule weeks before elections.

Speaking to the BBC from a mobile telephone just after his plane landed, Sharif explained why he had returned.

"I'm here to play my role and also to make my own efforts to rid the country of the dictatorship," he said.

He also said he wanted to retore the rule of law and strengthen democracy.

Hundreds of policemen with riot shields and batons were deployed at the airport where Sharif landed.

The BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Lahore says some two thousand of the former prime minister's supporters crowded into the airport terminal, shouting slogans such as "The Lion has returned".

He says that despite the police presence, the atmosphere was not as tense as it was in September, when Sharif first attempted to return.

Then he was deported to Saudi Arabia within hours of arriving.

Government officials said Sharif would be allowed back into the country, after reaching an "understanding" with Gen Musharraf.

BBC Pakistan correspondent Barbara Plett says Sharif remains opposed to Gen Musharraf, but that he no longer poses a direct threat because the military leader has recently secured another presidential term by declaring an emergency.

His return on Sunday would be in time to file nomination papers to contest parliamentary elections on 8 January.

Opposition leaders, including Benazir Bhutto - another former prime minister who also recently returned from exile - are divided over whether to boycott the elections.

Security had been tightened in Lahore ahead of Sharif's return.

Two bombings killed more than 130 people at a homecoming parade for Ms Bhutto last month, and Sharif has been provided with an armour-plated Mercedes car by the Saudi King Abdullah for his journey home.

He is expected to travel from the airport, through city centre, to a shrine about 20km (12.5 miles) away, followed by a visit to his ancestral home, where he will say prayers at his father's grave.

Thousands of people are expected to turn out to welcome Sharif, and the route from the airport to the city has been lined with posters and banners celebrating his homecoming.

Ahead of his return, officials from Sharif's PML-N party and police said PML-N supporters had been arrested across Punjab province, although it was not clear how many.