Pakistan's Sharif to return in days: party official

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Pervez Musharraf in a coup, will make a fresh attempt to return from exile in the next four or five days, a party spokesman on Friday said.   

Sharif was due later Friday to meet King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, where he has been living in exile, to discuss plans for his return in time for general elections fixed for January 8.   

He had flown back to Pakistan on September 10 but was deported to Jeddah by Pakistani authorities just four hours later.   

The Saudi monarch sent a special plane Thursday to fetch Sharif to Riyadh from the Red Sea city of Jeddah.   

"Nawaz Sharif plans to return the country in the next four to five days," a spokesman for his Pakistan Muslim League-N, Ahsan Iqbal said.

He said Sharif's wife Kulsoom Nawaz and younger brother Shahbaz Sharif were expected to travel here from London before the former premier returns.   

"We will be in a position to announce the exact date of Sharif's return by Saturday," Iqbal added.   

The issue of Sharif's return figured on Musharraf's talks with the Saudi king during a visit there earlier this week, which a Pakistani official said focused on efforts to keep the ex-prime minister in exile.   

"Riyadh would have become a party in Pakistani politics had it accepted Musharraf's demand to keep Nawaz Sharif in exile Saudi Arabia," Iqbal said.