Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif was being deported on Monday about four hours after arriving at Islamabad airport, a senior government official said.

Several Pakistani television channels reported he was being sent to Saudi Arabia. Some reported he was flown out on board a Pakistan International Airlines flight that was shown taking off.

"Yes, he is being deported," said the official who declined to be identified.

Saudi Arabia will allow former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return to exile in the kingdom after he was deported from Islamabad within hours of his arrival on Monday, a Saudi source said.

The source said Sharif would arrive in the Red Sea city of Jeddah around 3.30 p.m. and be allowed to stay.

President Pervez Musharraf had sent Sharif to exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000 after toppling his government in 1999. Saudi Arabia had asked Sharif not to return to Pakistan.