Pak govt mounts offensive to block Sharifs' return

ISLAMABAD/LONDON: With Nawaz Sharif all set to return from exile on Monday, Pakistan government on Saturday went on an overdrive to stop him, threatening the deposed former prime minister with deportation and roping in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to put pressure on him.

Defying threats by Pervez Musharraf regime, Sharif, 58, and his brother Shahbaz along with a contingent of journalists will leave London tomorrow night and plan to reach Islamabad on Monday afternoon, sources close to the Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader said in London.

Their flight schedule has been kept under wraps to keep officials in Pakistan guessing as to where and when he will land, the sources said.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said Sharif would be detained after his arrival in Islamabad and 'deported' to either Britain or Saudi Arabia.

After his detention, "Sharif might be kept in jail for a day or so and then he will be deported to London, Saudi Arabia or elsewhere," Rashid was quoted by 'Dawn' as saying.