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I will be back, Nawaz
General Musharraf''s government said on Thursday that it will present proof in the Supreme Court that deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed a pact promising to stay away from Pakistan for ten years.
But speaking exclusively to AN In Dubai, Sharif denied that he had signed onto any such agreement and dared the Musharraf regime to provide evidence that he had.
He, however, admitted that there may have been such an understanding with Saudi Arabia, the country that offered him political asylum after he was removed.
AN: Looking back at 1999 that day when you got on to the plane and left with your family and your aides, possibly for the next 10 years at least or that's what people thought, did you ever believe that the day would come, when you would actually return back to Pakistan or were you consigned to a life of political oblivion.
Nawaz Sharif: I was certain that I would come back to Pakistan.
AN: Even then? That day when you left?
Nawaz Sharif: Even then at that time when I was being released from the Attock fort, and I was taking a flight to Saudi Arabia from Islamabad, I thought I would certainly come back. And come back sooner than the time that has passed till today.
AN: But there is still a question mark that hangs over your return. Admittedly, the court has now asked the government to explain why you should not be allowed to return. But President Musharraf's government has a reason. They say when you left Pakistan, you signed an agreement that you would not return for 10 years at least.
Nawaz Sharif: I never signed any agreement with President Musharraf nor his government nor any functionary of his government. None whatsoever. So if I had signed anything with Musharraf, he would have brought it out by now. He would have presented it to the Supreme Court when Mr Shahbaz Sharif was going back to Pakistan.
AN: No agreement at all? Nothing on paper that President Musharraf can show the court?
Nawaz Sharif: Not with Musharraf. Not at all. I may be having an understanding with Saudi Arabia. But that has nothing to do with Mr Musharraf.
AN: I'm reading between the lines here. You are saying that there was no agreement with President Musharraf. In other words, could there have been agreement with Saudi Arabia, wherein you guarantee that you would not return to active politics in return for asylum in their country?
Nawaz Sharif: I was never told that. No. And I am thankful to the Saudi King who thought about me in those difficult times. But the thing is that Musharraf has spared no effort in reaching out to the Saudis or other people to stop Nawaz Sharif from coming back to Pakistan. What transpired between Musharraf and Saudi Arabia, I am not privy to that. But I think Saudis know that Nawaz Sharif is a politician. He has a role to play. He has a duty to perform. I have already filed a petition in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court has formed a full bench to examine the case and the next date, which has been fixed is the 16th. So, I am waiting for the judgment of the Supreme Court. I don't want to make any comments because this is a subjudice matter.
AN: Let's look ahead. There is a sense across the world that President Pervez Musharraf is in a very tight corner right now. That in some ways his emissaries are trying to reach out now to political leaders who were once staunchly against him. There is Benazir Bhutto on one side. There is you on the other. We will come to Ms Bhutto later. Let's talk about you. Have Pervez Musharraf's emissaries tried to reach out to you? You have said on record that there have been feelers for some kind of a deal and you have turned this down. What sort of feelers have you been getting from them?
Nawaz Sharif: The first emissary that met me was while I was in Saudi Arabia. And the second one met us in London. He first met my brother Shahbaz Sharif. And they came with different proposals. One was prior to the election of 2002. And the other one met when I went to London from Saudi Arabia just about less than two years ago. Both came with proposals that we unify the two factions of Muslim League.
The one which is now with Musharraf known as the King's party headed by Choudhry Shujahat Hussain and I would say a faction of turncoats who crossed the flow when Musharraf took over overthrowing my government. And I think that doesn't make any sense. Our party has been struggling for the restoration of democracy, restoration of the constitution of 1973. And the other faction, joined hands with Musharraf and supporting dictatorship. (It) doesn't make sense to merge the two.
Even today (I) very strongly feel that the two should get together. But we've resisted that. I am not a man who is stubborn or I would not say that I am not prepared to discuss any thing with Musharraf. But there is nothing to discuss with him. A man who is guilty of abrogating the constitution, a man who is guilty of overthrowing an elected government, a man who is guilty of removing the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Do you think he should be talked to? Do you think he should be negotiated with? Do you think we should strike or cut a deal with this man? I think it will be very immoral on my part to strike any deal or even to hold any negotiations with usurpers and dictators.
General Musharraf''s government said on Thursday that it will present proof in the Supreme Court that deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed a pact promising to stay away from Pakistan for ten years.
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