Pakistani authorities are expected to deport Nawaz Sharif, the exiled former Prime Minister, back to Saudi Arabia as soon as he returns to Pakistan tomorrow in a bid to topple President Pervez Musharraf.

A senior government official told The Times that the decision had been made in consultation with Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi intelligence chief, who met General Musharraf in Pakistan over the weekend.

Mr Sharif was toppled by General Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999, given a life sentence and then sent into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000. He moved to London last year.

He is due to fly back to Islamabad tonight despite warnings that he could be jailed again and an extraordinary public appeal from the Saudi prince for him to honour an agreement to stay away from Pakistan for 10 years.

Bhutto was killed by bomb blast

The team from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have backed the claim that Benazir Bhutto was not shot

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• Pictures: death of Benazir Bhutto

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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

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• Saudi Arabia intervenes over Nawaz Sharif

• Exiled leader plans return 8 years after coup

Mr Sharif says the deal was only valid for five years and has pledged to lead a victorious procession from Islamabad to Lahore, his main support base, and to oust General Musharraf within six weeks.

He is due to board a Gulf Air flight this evening from Heathrow to Islamabad via Muscat, arriving at 11.45am local time tomorrow.

But the government official said that preparations had already been made to put him straight onto a Pakistani air force plane and to fly him back to Saudi Arabia.

"Probably he will be allowed to return to Pakistan after the parliamentary elections likely to be held early next year," said the official.

General Musharraf plans to be re-elected by the current parliament between September 15 and October 15 and to stay on as head of the army before organising parliamentary elections by mid-January.

But he faces unprecedented opposition from Islamic radicals, secular political parties, lawyers, journalists and other middle-class professionals following his failed attempt to sack the Chief Justice in March.

He has been negotiating a power-sharing deal with Benazir Bhutto, another exiled former Prime Minister, under which he could remain president and she could serve a third term as Prime Minister. Mr Sharif, however, appears determined to thwart those plans.

Deporting him may buy General Musharraf some time, analysts say, but it is likely to provoke a strong reaction from the newly emboldened Supreme Court, which ruled last month that Mr Sharif should be allowed to return to Pakistan.

It could also spark violent protests from supporters of Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N) party, who have promised to greet him at Islamabad airport.

Police have detained more than 2,000 of them to try to prevent a large crowd from reaching the airport, according to Ahsan Iqbal, a party spokesman.

They also put all major airports on high alert today, warning of unspecified terror threats, and banned gatherings of more than five people around Islamabad's international airport.

Local papers also reported that authorities had installed mobile phone jamming devices at the airport and senior government sources said General Musharraf could declare a state of emergency to restore order if necessary.

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