The first round went to President Pervez Musharraf this morning as the former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was dramatically arrested, and later deported, on his arrival at Islamabad airport after seven years of exile.

Mr Sharif was lured into a trap, duped off his plane into the airport terminal - where the mood changed suddenly, and he was accused of embezzlement and money-laundering and manhandled away.

In the melee as paramilitary police in black T-shirts held him in an armlock Mr Sharif brushed right past me, and we had the briefest of conversations.

"I'm amazed by this fabricated case against me," he gasped, repeating: "I'm amazed." He seemed lost for words.

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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

Related Links

• Sharif arrested in Pakistan and deported

Multimedia

• Pictures: Nawaz Sharif's return

It had all started so differently yesterday afternoon, when he arrived at Heathrow for what was intended to be his triumphant homecoming to dethrone his arch-rival, General Musharraf.

His supporters had booked seats on various flights, in an apparent attempt to confuse the Pakistan authorities. In the event he ended up on a Pakistan International Airways flight direct to Islamabad, seated in first class.

The journey passed eventfully: journalists were allowed to have a chat with him, in which he sounded defiant, confident and clearly quite excited about the prospect of going home.

As the plane descended, he and his aides left the first class lounge and came back to where we were sitting in economy class, where they cocooned him in the middle of as many people as possible.

Once the aircraft came to a halt we could see about 200 police commandos, normal police and paramilitary police rangers stationed on the tarmac.

Then there was stalemate, as he refused to disembark or hand over his passport. After about two hours of negotiations, the authorities agreed to withdraw the police and let him off the plane. They laid on a bus to take him to the VIP suite for further discussions.

Inside the airport terminal he was given a cup of tea, and a few of his supporters seemed to manage to slip through the cordon to cheer him on, lifting his mood.

But the civilities were an illusion. It quickly became clear that there was a huge ring of steel around the airport. All normal telephone communications with the terminal had been cut off, and no civilians were being allowed anywhere near.

After an hour inside the terminal the mood changed quite dramatically. The hall flooded with security personnel, until it was crawling with people in police uniforms. I had a contretemps with a couple of plainclothes policemen, after brushing past them in a corridor.

I heard a shout from one of his aides, then general shouting and screaming broke out. A detachment of police commandos came, clad in black T-shirts with the words "No fear" on the back, and there were scuffles.

A man in sunglasses and a suit, who didn't identify himself but seemed to be either police or intelligence services, said that Mr Sharif had been arrested on new charges of money-laundering and corruption.

We spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Azar Mahmoud Qazi, from an anti-corruption agency called the National Accountability Bureau, who told us that the investigation had been going on for three years, and involved the embezzlement of 1.2 billion rupees (£9.8 million).

Then there was a huge scuffle as they tried to get him out of the arrivals hall to a police car. He brushed right past me, looking really shaken and shocked, and we had our quick conversation.

He seemed lost for words, while only a few hours earlier he had been predicting how he would fearlessly take on whatever was coming to him and take his rightful place.

The scene in the airport terminal after his arrest was of utter chaos, with around 400 journalists, freelancers, police and rangers milling around.

His lawyers and supporters were furious. Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, who was accompanying him, said he was disappointed and horrified by what had happened to Mr Sharif, and that Pakistan under General Musharraf was no better than a dictatorship.

And so General Musharraf has silenced his major challenger - but he has also landed himself with a problem. Mr Sharif has friends abroad, and quite a big following in Pakistan as well. Members of the Muslim League loyal to Mr Sharif will start making trouble now that they see the authorities apparently picking a fight with him.

So while General Musharraf has won in the short term, the long term picture is far less clear cut.

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