Islamabad: Four close members of deposed Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif were on January 14 detained shortly after they flew in Lahore from their exile in Saudi Arabia, a private TV reported.

Sabiha Abbas, wife of Sharif's younger brother Abbas Sharif, her two daughters and a son, arrived in Lahore on a flight from Jeddah.

'Geo News' said they were taken into custody and shifted to unknown destination soon after their arrival. However, there was no official confirmation of the report.

Sharif, who was deposed by President Pervez Musharraf in a military coup in 1999, has been exiled to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia along with his family members by the military regime after he was convicted by a terrorist court on corruption and terrorism charges.

Officials of the Musharraf government said that Shairf and his family members were not eligible to return home for 10 years. But Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) denied it and said they could return after three years.

Sharifs who lived in Jeddah under the close watch of the Saudi government, were not allowed to contest the general elections held in October 2002 as nomination papers of the former premier, his brother Shahbaz and wife Kulsum were rejected.

PTI