Police tried to seal off the capital from protesters, jailed party leaders and detained more than 4,000 supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the exiled foe of President Pervez Musharraf whose plane landed Monday morning in Islamabad, opposition leaders said.
According to The Associated Press, commandos boarded the plane and surrounded Sharif, exiled leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or PML-N.
Ahsan Iqbal, spokesman for the PML-N, said Monday morning that he and other leaders hid overnight, trying to avoid police. Police detained the chairman of the party and Javed Hashmi, a top party leader who recently was released after being jailed for almost four years. They stopped a convoy of cars carrying PML-N leaders on their way to the airport, forcing them into other vehicles and taking them to jail. Police also blocked off roads leading to Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi, checking all vehicles and allowing through only those with local license plates.
“They have been hunting for each one of us,” Iqbal said. “It’s very shameful what they have done. It just proves the point that there is no democracy in Pakistan. This is a military dictatorship.”
A plane and helicopter sat waiting at Islamabad airport, according to PML-N workers, who said either the helicopter would take him to jail or the plane would fly him to Saudi Arabia.
The Pakistani government has indicated that it could arrest or deport Sharif when he arrives, but government spokesmen were not responding to phone calls. Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, the spokesman for Musharraf, said the president has nothing to do with what would happen to Sharif when he lands.
An hour before Sharif’s plane was due to arrive from London, about 75 protesters gathered in front of the house of Zafaraullah Haq, the Pakistan chairman of the party, who was arrested Sunday. They shouted, “Go, Musharraf, go!” and prepared to drive to the airport to meet Sharif’s plane.
“All the roads going to the airport are blocked, but we will break through for our leader,” said Tamina Dultana, a Parliament member from PML-N. “Even if we have to pay with our lives, it is worth the cost.”
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kbarker@tribune.com
