Nawaz Sharif pardoned and allowed into Saudi exile

An official announcement in Islamabad said the ex-premier, jailed after trial under the military administration which ousted him, had been pardoned by presidential decree. The announcement came hours after a member of the Saudi royal family arrived in Islamabad amid reports Sharif might be freed for "medical treatment abroad".

Sharif's wife Kulsoom told reporters in Islamabad that she had not met the dignitary but would fly her husband out immediately if the junta so permitted. She denied Islamabad newspaper The News' report that the family had struck a deal with the military regime but said the Saudis might have interceded on behalf of her husband.

Official sources confirmed that the family had requested permission to take Sharif abroad for medical treatment. Pakistani news agency NNI reported that the Saudi embassy had issued visas to the members of the family.

Sharif's father, two brothers and a son are also in jail or in house detention since the army seized power in October 1999 after he dismissed its chief, General Pervez Musharraf, who now rules the country.

Sharif was tried after his dismissal on terrorism and corruption charges and sentenced to life imprisonment and barred from politics for 21 years.

His Pakistan Moslem League party, which split over the issue of confronting the military, nominated Javed Hashmi as acting president, indicating that Sharif was departing.

But observers said Sharif, and other members of the family, would have to be pardoned by the President of Pakistan before they could leave the country.

This week the family reported that Sharif had developed a heart ailment in jail. His elderly father, Mian Sharif, was also said to be ill.

(dpa)