Via the BBC: Pakistan ‘deports’ ex-PM Sharif

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been arrested and deported within hours of returning to Pakistan from exile, officials say.

After landing in Islamabad he was charged and put on board a plane, reportedly bound for Saudi Arabia.

This move by Musharraf violates the Supreme Court’s ruling that Sharif was to be allowed to return (unless, of course, one very narrowly interprets the ruling to have been fulfilled when Sharif set foot in Pakistan).

Musharraf may be setting himself up for serious backlash, as Sharif’s party/allies may be pushed in the direction of more militant elements of Pakistani politics:

One worker from Mr Sharif’s Muslim League party (PML-N) told the BBC he and about 20 others had been badly beaten by police outside the airport.

On Sunday, the party said more than 2,000 supporters had been arrested by the Pakistan authorities, while almost its entire leadership had been detained.

Given that Sharif’s party is religiously based and given that there are obviously Islamist extremist elements in Pakistan, this kind of repressive move could very easily radicalize some elements of that party.

At a minimum, it is difficult to watch to situation and say that Musharraf is moving in a democratic direction, shall we say (despite he protestations to the contrary).