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Confusion surrounds Sharief's whereabouts

Confusion prevailed in Pakistan today over the whereabouts of deposed premier Nawaz Sharief who has been charged by the army with endangering the life of its chief, General Pervez Musharraf, and 200 others.

Army sources said Sharief, who had been detained by the military, first in Islamabad and then Lahore, since being overthrown in a coup on October 12, had been shifted to the southern port city of Karachi on a special military aircraft to face trial.

The confusion arose when the Karachi police denied that Sharief was in the city.

Sharief had sacked Gen Musharraf on the evening of October 12 evening as the general was flying home on a Pakistan International Airlines flight from Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.

The plane, with 200 others aboard, was denied permission to land in Karachi, allegedly on Sharief's orders, but eventually landed there after army commanders revolted and seized the airport.

The drama ended with the army dismissing Sharief. But martial law was not declared and a civil-military government, headed by Gen Musharraf, has been ruling the country since.

Though Sharief is also accused of misusing his position to enrich his family's industrial empire, the military has chosen to charge him with criminal conspiracy to prevent the aircraft landing, thus endangering the lives of all the people on board. The plane was running dangerously low on fuel.

Four of Sharief's officials - Aminullah Chaudhry, chief of the Civil Aviation Authority, PIA chairman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Sharief's political adviser Ghaus Ali Shah, and the police chief of Sindh Rana Maqbool Ahmad -- have been named co-conspirators.

They were all in military detention like Sharief, but have been placed in police custody since the charges were filed on November 11.

UNI

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