HOWZAT

Deporting him is likely to stoke confrontation with opposition activists, who fought police today on roads leading to Islamabad airport that authorities had blockaded with trucks, tractors and barbed wire. None was able to get close.

Police fired tear gas and supporters threw rocks at a pro-Sharif rally in Rawalpindi. Shots were fired on a bridge leading to the capital from Pakistan’s restless northwest frontier. Several people were reported injured at each clash.

Rafiq Tarar, a former President, accused police of beating him up in one confrontation. Witnesses said that Mr Tarar was later arrested.

At least four other senior opposition leaders were also put under house arrest, including Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the head of a powerful political alliance that supports Mr Sharif; Liaqat Baluch, another hard-line Islamic lawmaker; Javed Hashmi, the acting president of Mr Sharif’s party; and party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq.

Expert View

There was a huge scuffle as police tried to get Sharif out of the arrivals hall. He brushed right past me, looking really shaken and shocked

Richard Beeston in Islamabad

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Bhutto was killed by bomb blast

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BACKGROUND

• Pakistan in turmoil as ‘martial law’ imposed

• Bhutto escapes as bombers kill 126

• Timeline: Pakistan's period of turmoil

• The man out to oust a President

• Internal crisis gives Pakistan reason for hope

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Multimedia

• Pictures: Nawaz Sharif's return

Brigadier Iqbal Cheema, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said that they were arrested "to ensure the maintenance of public order," under a regulation that allows authorities to detain suspects for up to three months without charge.

Seven years ago, Mr Sharif was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia after he was convicted of terrorism and hijacking charges in Pakistan following the coup. Under a deal with General Musharraf, Sharif allegedly promised to stay away for 10 years.

Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Saudi intelligence chief, said on Saturday that Mr Sharif should respect the agreement and that Saudi Arabia was ready to take him back.

Mr Sharif's return was intended to exploit the political turmoil in his homeland. General Musharraf’s grip on power has faltered after a failed attempt to sack the country’s top judge ignited mass protests, but he still hopes to persuade MPs to vote him a new five-year term in office by mid-October.

His Government is also struggling to control Islamic extremism that has spread from the Afghan border where al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

"Musharraf is capable of doing anything," Mr Sharif told reporters on the flight from London. "He could impose martial law, but if he does, he will be the first casualty because the country will not accept that, the people will not accept that and I think the rank and file of the army will not accept that."

The European Union criticised the decision to send Mr Sharif into exile, saying the Supreme Court ruling allowing him back should be respected.

"If there is any legal case against Mr Sharif, he should have a chance to defend himself in a Pakistan court," said EU spokeswoman Christiane Hohmann.

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