ISLAMABAD, 8 September 2007 — A court in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore yesterday issued a warrant of arrest for Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of exiled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shahbaz is charged with ordering police to kill five men who were gunned down in Lahore in 1998. At the time of the killings, Shahbaz was the chief minister of the Punjab province.
The Sharif brothers, who were sent into exile Dec. 10, 2000 by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, plan to return to Pakistan on Monday.
On Wednesday, the father of one of the victims asked the court to arrest Shahbaz after hearing that he was due to return to Pakistan, Aftab Ahmed Bajwa, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said. Shahbaz has denied the charge.
In another sign that the government is preparing a bumpy landing for the exiles, officials said police had detained hundreds of Sharif supporters in his political stronghold.
Sharif was toppled in Musharraf’s 1999 coup, convicted on charges of hijacking and terrorism and sentenced to life imprisonment before being sent into exile.
Sharif’s party denounced the latest moves and the revival of corruption cases against the Sharif family as politically motivated, and said they would backfire on Musharraf. “These are all cooked up, bogus cases to prevent Mr. Sharif and his brother from returning. We are determined to come back and we will face these false charges in a court with our lawyers,” said Nadir Chaudhri, a spokesman for Sharif in London.
“Our objective is to block this military dictator from maneuvering and continuing his rule. We are going back to ensure that the rule of law is followed and democracy returns.”
Meanwhile, an anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi held a hearing in a case involving allegations that the Sharif family defaulted on a bank loan and owned property beyond their known financial means, said Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, a prosecutor for the state National Accountability Bureau.
The cases date back to 2001 and 2002. Hearings had been adjourned for years, but were reopened late last month following an application by the government.
The judge adjourned the case until Sept. 13 to ensure the next hearing takes place after the Sharifs are inside the country, Bhutta said.
Ahsan Iqbal, spokesman for Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said the moves against the Sharifs “show complete panic in the ranks of the government.”
“They cannot face his return, so they are initiating false cases to deny him a political role,” Iqbal said.
— Additional input from agencies
