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Honour deal, Riyadh tells Sharif

ISLAMABAD: A Saudi prince and the son of the late Lebanese leader Rafiq Hariri landed up in the Pakistani capital on Saturday to throw their weight behind the Musharraf regime’s efforts to stop Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz from returning home on Monday.

But the Pakistan Muslim League (N) said Mr. Sharif’s was firm in his decision to return and there was no change in his plan to arrive on Monday.

Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, head of Saudi intelligence, and Saad Hariri who met President Pervez Musharraf immediately after flying in, told journalists later that the former Prime Minister should honour his agreement with the “custodian of the Holy Mosques” and not return to Pakistan in the interests of the country’s stability and security.

The Sharif family has several business and financial interests in Saudi Arabia, and with the Hariri family, which has close ties with the Saudi royals. Rafiq Hariri is said to have played the role of an intermediary in arranging the exile of Mr. Sharif to Saudi Arabia. The government evidently hopes that Mr. Sharif may crack under direct pressure from his benefactors. This is the first time Saudi Arabia has come out so openly against Mr. Sharif’s return. Last week, an unnamed Saudi spokesman issued a discreet statement asking the Sharifs to employ “wisdom”.

Standing at the doorstep of the President’s Rawalpindi office, Prince Muqrin displayed a sheet of paper that he said was the agreement that Mr. Sharif had entered with Saudi Arabia, and said that “for the sake of the national interest of Pakistan, we are hopeful that he will adhere to and honour the agreement and stick by it.”

He said Saudi Arabia “fully respected” Pakistan’s Supreme Court that recently ruled that the Sharif brothers could return home and the government should not hinder them in any way. But he stressed the Sharifs were honour-bound to their commitment to Saudi Arabia.

“Pakistan is one of the strong Muslim countries, and the custodian of the Holy Mosques believes that the security of Pakistan is as much important to us as the security of Saudi Arabia,” said the Prince. Mr. Hariri said he was the person who flew back and forth during the 2000 talks for the release of Mr. Sharif from prison in Pakistan and his exile.

“The agreement with the custodian of the two Holy Mosques should be honoured,” he said.

Senior PML(N) leader Javed Hashmi condemned the Musharraf regime for dragging Saudi Arabia and Lebanon into the internal politics of Pakistan, and said “nobody and nothing can force Nawaz Sharif to change his decision to return on September 10. The country needs him at this time, and he will not disappoint the country,” Mr. Hashmi said at a specially convened press conference.

Another PML (N) leader Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, said that while Mr. Sharif was thankful to the Saudis for rescuing him from a difficult situation, the initiative for having him released from prison and taking him away from the country had come from the Saudi government, and not Mr. Sharif.

At a meeting of its central working committee, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) urged the Pakistan government not to block Mr. Sharif’s return or to send him back to Saudi Arabia as this would make a hero out of him.

The party asked the government to allow Mr. Sharif to return, and said it was prepared to face him at the elections. Once again, several party members expressed strong opposition to the “deal-in-progress” between President Musharraf and the Pakistan People’s Party saying it would weaken them.

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