Sharif returns with vow to end dictatorship

Lahore: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, and said he was determined to rid the country of dictatorship.

"We want democracy and nothing else," Sharif told the BBC by telephone on arriving back in his hometown Lahore. "I am here to play my role and also make my own efforts to rid the country of dictatorship."

US ally President General Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on November 3 but, under pressure from Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, he reluctantly acquiesced to Sharif's return.

Sharif will lead his party in a January 8 general election, if he decides against boycotting the polls.

Khalid Maqbool, governor of central Punjab province, described Sharif's return to his hometown as a step toward national reconciliation after the bloodless 1999 coup.

Sharif was accompanied by his wife Kulsoom and politician brother and fellow exile Shahbaz Sharif. Hundreds of people managed to breach the security cordon at the airport to welcome them home, although police carrying riot shields, batons and rifles had been deployed. Police arrested hundreds of Sharif's followers.

- With inputs from agencies