Pakistan deported former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia yesterday, just hours after he returned from exile hoping to ignite a popular campaign to oust Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
In a dramatic showdown at Islamabad's airport, the 57-year-old Sharif refused to hand over his passport as he returned from seven years abroad, sparking an immediate confrontation and prompting police to board his plane.
The two-time prime minister, ousted by close US ally Musharraf in a bloodless 1999 coup, was then arrested on corruption charges and deported. He was put on a plane to Jeddah hours after he landed.
The combative Sharif had pledged his return would provide "a final push to the crumbling dictatorship" of Musharraf, who is facing the worst crisis since he took power amid a wave of political turmoil and Islamist violence.
"Nawaz Sharif is now out of Pakistan. He is going back to Saudi Arabia," Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul Haq said.
"The Saudis have demanded his return to Saudi Arabia. He has not only embarrassed Pakistan, but also the Saudi Arabian leaders by violating the agreement," he said.
Sharif had agreed to remain in Saudi Arabia until 2010 as part of a deal that saw him released from prison, where he was locked up on corruption charges after Musharraf's coup toppled him from power.
Sharif's deportation defied Pakistan's increasingly independent Supreme Court, which last month ordered the government not to hinder his return.
Sharif arrived on a Pakistan International Airlines flight from London.
He shook people's hands and his supporters on board chanted "Long live Nawaz Sharif," a passenger said.
"After negotiations he accepted an offer to go back and returned in a special plane to Jeddah," a senior government official said.
"He came to the VIP lounge and he was shown the arrest warrants. He was also shown the agreement that he had made with the Saudi government to remain out of the country for 10 years," the official said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government