Musharraf to let Sharif return to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be allowed to return to the country.

The decision followed Musharraf's meetings in Saudi Arabia earlier in the week, The Guardian Unlimited reported.

Sharif was set to return to Pakistan from exile Sunday aboard a special plane provided by the Saudi royal family, The New York Times said.

The exile was deposed as prime minister by Musharraf in a coup in 1999. Sharif returned to Pakistan from exile in September but was deported within a day and returned to Saudi Arabia.

Sharif, the leader of a major opposition party, is considered a strong challenger to the embattled Musharraf, whose trip to Saudi Arabia was a failed attempt to convince the Saudi royal family to keep Sharif in its kingdom, the Times reported.

Sharif was to return to Pakistan Sunday on a plane provided by the Saudi royal family and have a large homecoming parade through the streets of Lahore, said Raja Ashfaq, a spokesman for Sharif.

Sharif has not declared himself a candidate in the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections called by Musharraf, whose hold on the country has continued to weaken since he suspended constitutional rule Nov. 3, the Times reported.