Pakistani Airports on High Alert

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Source: Associated Press

Pakistan stepped up security at all of its major airports Sunday after receiving reports about possible terror attacks, a day before the nation's exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was to return home, officials said.

Sharif plans to fly from London to Islamabad on Monday and travel by motorcade to his home to campaign against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who ousted his elected government in a 1999 coup.

''I will go back to Pakistan on Sept. 10 with my brother because my country needs me,'' he said Saturday at a news conference in London, after a Saudi envoy urged him to respect a 2000 agreement under which he promised to stay away for 10 years.

As Sharif spurned the Saudi pressure and vowed to return home, authorities in Pakistan quickly put all of their major airports on high alert to avoid possible attacks, said two senior intelligence officials.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Pakistan-Politics.html

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1. Pakistanis "Detain 2, 000" Ahead Of Ex - PM's Return

Pakistani authorities have detained more than 2,000 supporters of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his party said on Sunday, the eve of his planned return to challenge President Pervez Musharraf.

Sharif, ousted by army chief Musharraf in 1999, says he is determined to fly home from London on Monday despite an appeal from a Saudi official for him to stay away for the sake of Pakistani stability.

"The way the government has acted has proven our point that there is no democracy under Musharraf, there is dictatorship in the country," said Sharif's spokesman, Ahsan Iqbal.

He said authorities had detained more than 2,000 activists from Sharif's party in Punjab province, Sharif's political power base: "Politically, they are very sacred of a big show of popularity upon his arrival."

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-pakistan.html

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2. BBC: Exiled Pakistan ex-PM heads home

'Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is heading home at the end of seven years in exile.
Mr Sharif, who was ousted by President Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999, is expected to arrive in the capital Islamabad on Monday morning.
Large numbers of police have set up barricades on the road to the airport.
Boarding his plane in London, Mr Sharif said that if he was arrested upon arrival, that would be "a small price to pay for the country's freedom".'

BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6986368.stm