Sharifs' estate in Lahore being readied

ISLAMABAD: The 450-acre sprawling Sharif estate at Raiwind in Lahore is bustling with activity as it awaits the return of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shabaz, who are set to arrive here on Monday ending their seven-year exile.

The estate which has a variety of fruit orchards besides cultivable land and luxuriously built houses for Sharif brothers was the nerve centre during the heydays of their rule before the PML-N chief was overthrown by President Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999.

It was virtually the Prime Minister's Office's base camp but receded to background after the Sharifs were deported to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia along with 20 members of their family.

Over 100 workers have been employed in the estate who are looking forward to the return of Sharifs and the days of glory to the estate.

While Sharif's party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, tried to mobilise its supporters across the country to receive Sharif's when they land in Islamabad tomorrow, the estate has been kept ready for their stay just as the government might decide to keep them under house arrest.