Sharif arrested in Pakistan

Islamabad: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested at Islamabad airport on Monday and taken into custody about three hours after arriving home from seven years in exile.

Police took Sharif from an airport lounge and onto a bus, a Reuters reporter in the lounge said. A government official said he was being arrested on money-laundering and corruption charges.

Sharif returned home from seven years in exile, leaving his aircraft after a tense 90-minute standoff with authorities.

"I feel great, I'm prepared to face any situation," Sharif told a Reuters correspondent aboard his flight as he arrived in Islamabad.

His return was always going to spark a confrontation with General Musharraf, the army chief who ousted Sharif in 1999 and cast him into exile the following year.

Police fired teargas and used batons to disperse around 700 Sharif supporters and lawyers about three km away from the airport as he arrived.

The protesters, waving party flags and held up portraits of Sharif, threw stones at police and chanted "Go Musharraf go". Scores of supporters scuffled with police in Islamabad.

The government has not said what it will do with Sharif but there is speculation he will be arrested on old corruption charges and perhaps deported.

Ordinary people were not able to get closer than three or four kilometres from Islamabad airport. Police with riot equipment were posted at barricades but there were not many Sharif supporters. Rallies have been banned.

Travellers with tickets had to get to the airport by shuttle bus, while some workers trying to get home from a night shift were stranded on the wrong side of road blocks.

"Every Pakistani has the right to come here," said Munir Ahmed, a cook, as he watched police at a barricade.

"If he wants to come he should come quietly and not make a political show of it because he had that agreement," said a young man who gave his name as Usman.

Sharif, 57, ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 coup and sent into exile in Saudi Arabia the following year, returned home despite a Saudi official's plea for him to stay away for the sake of stability.

Musharraf exiled Sharif under what the government says was an agreement that he stay in exile for 10 years. In return, he avoided a life sentence on hijacking and corruption charges.

His return now is a serious challenge for Musharraf, who has lost much support since trying to dismiss the country's top judge in March.

"My ambition is very clear, I have to take Pakistan back to the rule of democracy, because unless we have this, we will continue to be in a state of mess as we are today," Sharif told reporters on his departure from Britain.

The government did not said what it would do when Sharif landed but there has been speculation he would be arrested on old corruption charges and perhaps deported.

The Supreme Court said last month Sharif and his brother Shahbaz had the right to return and the government should not try to stop them. Shahbaz is not on the flight from London.

"There's no plan to disrupt their arrival, the question is what happens after ... the law of the land will take its course," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said late on Sunday.

Pakistan says the Saudi royal family and assassinated Lebanese leader Rafik Al Hariri had guaranteed the exile deal. Sharif said on Saturday he understood the deal had been to stay away for five years.