Sharif returns to rid Pakistan of "dictatorship"

LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 25 (bdprem.com/Reuters) - Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile on Sunday to confront his arch-rival President Pervez Musharraf who has imposed emergency rule on the country. Sharif, who was overthrown by General Musharraf in a bloodless coup eight years ago, said he was determined to rid the country of dictatorship. "We want democracy and nothing else," Sharif told the BBC by telephone on arriving back in his hometown Lahore from exile in Saudi Arabia. "I am here to play my role and also make my own efforts to rid the country of dictatorship." Thousands of people lined the road from the airport, cheering and beating drums to welcome Sharif, who arrived with his wife Kulsoom and politician brother Shahbaz Sharif, a fellow exile, on a jet provided by the Saudi monarch. Sharif waved as he addressed a throng of well-wishers from atop a car outside the building, while his brother was carried on peoples' shoulders to a waiting vehicle. US ally Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3 to safeguard his presidency, but, under pressure from Saudi's King Abdullah, he reluctantly acquiesced to Sharif's return. Sharif will lead his party in a Jan. 8 general election, if he decides against boycotting a poll that most people doubt will be either free or fair. Western governments fear that stifling democracy could benefit Islamist militants threatening nuclear-armed Pakistan. Hundreds of people managed to breach the security cordon at the airport, although police carrying riot shields, batons and rifles had been deployed. And police detained thousands of supporters of Sharif prior to his arrival, according to party loyalists. Men and women clapped and danced in the terminal as they waved portraits, placards, and party flags. "I have no lust for any post or power," Sharif said, mopping his brow, and dressed in traditional white shalwar kameez and black waistcoat. "I didn't come for this, I came to serve the people and save Pakistan," he said before being carried aloft by supporters to another car roof. ATTACKS Mounting insecurity in Pakistan was underscored by two suicide attacks in Rawalpindi, the garrison town next to the capital Islamabad, on Saturday. The attacks killed at least 15 people, military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad confirmed on Sunday, although some media reported it was more than 30. Suicide bombers attacked the motorcade of a another former premier, Benazir Bhutto, when Musharraf allowed her to return last month in the hope that she would become an ally. At least 139 people were killed. Sharif plans to discuss a possible boycott of a parliamentary election set for Jan. 8 with the other main opposition party, led by Bhutto. Unpopular and politically isolated, Musharraf now has to contend with two rivals he has spent much of the last eight years trying to marginalise. Bhutto welcomed Sharif's return but did not talk in terms of a boycott as she filed her nomination papers at her constituency in southern Sindh province. "God willing, an election will be held and People's Party and the people will win," Bhutto told reporters. Musharraf co-opted the rump of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League after ousting him. Leaders of the ruling PML fear many of their party may now defect to Sharif's camp. Resigned to Sharif's coming back, Musharraf hopes the former prime minister's party will take part in the election, so the vote's questionable credibility will not be further diminished by an opposition boycott, according to a presidential aide. The general secured his own second five-year term by using emergency powers to purge Supreme Court judges who might have annulled his re-election by parliament last month. He is expected to quit as army chief and take his oath as a civilian leader in the coming days. His next big problem is whether the new parliament will be friendly or hostile.