Sharif may return home by next week: Report

LONDON: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said he could return home as soon as next week to take part in the election campaign if Saudi Arabia reached an agreement with President Pervez Musharraf to end his exile in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom favours an understanding between Musharraf and both opposition leaders, Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. A potential alliance between the opposition camps would seriously challenge Musharraf's hold on power.

The Saudi position is significantly different from the US's which has sought to keep Sharif out of the picture.

The Saudis are convinced that the exiled leader is needed if stability is to be restored.

Sharif said that his return to Pakistan was high on the agenda in talks between the Saudis and Musharraf in Riyadh on Tuesday. "The Saudi authorities are quite keen to take this matter forward with Musharraf," Sharif said.

He said he had been in close contact with the Saudi royal family, which he said was pushing for his return to Pakistan by November 26, the deadline to register for the January 8 parliamentary elections.

But he said he would have to discuss the election strategy against Musharraf with other opposition parties. "Our party (the PML-N) is not going to run alone... we are in contact with (PPP leader Benazir) Bhutto and we have discussed the agenda to tackle Musharraf," he said.

The Presidential spokesman in Islamabad on Wednesday dismissed as 'totally fabricated and baseless' media reports that Musharraf had travelled to Saudi Arabia to establish contacts with Sharif.