Islamabad: Pakistan's ruling PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain today said he had been assured by President Pervez Musharraf that exiled former Premier Nawaz Sharif would not be allowed to return to the country before the January 8 general election.

Hussain told a meeting of the PML-Q parliamentary board here that he had taken up reports about Sharif's possible return to Pakistan as soon as next week from exile in Saudi Arabia, with Musharraf yesterday.

The military ruler, who returned yesterday from a visit to Saudi Arabia, assured Hussain that Sharif would not be allowed to return before the polls, Dawn News channel quoted PML-Q sources as saying.

Musharraf's visit to Saudi Arabia, his first foreign trip since he imposed emergency on November 3,sparked speculation that he planned to reach out to Sharif to forge some sort of understanding between the PML-Q and Sharif's PML-N party. Musharraf had come to power in 1999 in a bloodless coup during which he deposed Sharif.

Sharif was deported to Saudi Arabia within hours of his return to Pakistan in September. Musharraf later said he would not be allowed to return for another three years as he had signed an agreement to go into exile for 10 years in exchange for the dropping of a prison term.

PML-N leader Ishaq Dar, however, told Dawn News channel from Dubai that Sharif was still hopeful of returning to Pakistan before November 26, the final date for filing nomination papers for the general election.

Source : PTI