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Nawaz Sharif begins exile in Saudi Arabia

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December 11, 2000 

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — More than a year after being ousted by the army, Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif began exile in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, following the lead of other refugees who have learned to regard the conservative kingdom as their home away from home.

Sharif arrived in the western port city of Jiddah from Pakistan with a large retinue of family members aboard a royal Saudi jet in the early afternoon, and immediately set off on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city to which Muslims around the world turn in prayer. Sharif was later expected to fly to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for a medical checkup at a military hospital.

As custodians of Islam's holiest shrines, the Saudis have a tradition of opening their doors to fellow Muslims seeking refuge. Notably, Idi Amin, the exiled and brutal former dictator of Uganda, was received by the Saudis in 1980, a year after he was ousted from his East African homeland.

Among lesser-known former leaders living fading lives in Saudi Arabia is Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, leader of the former South Yemen, which was united with the north a decade ago.

The kingdom also is home to family members of former Libyan King Idris al-Sanoussi, who was ousted in 1969 by Col. Moammar Gadhafi, who later declared himself president.

Sharif was freed by his country's military government early Sunday after a member of the Saudi royal family brokered his release, officials from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League political party said. The negotiations were held at the highest levels between the two countries, and supervised by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, a senior Saudi Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

He said Sharif was ``not a prisoner'' and was free to leave at any time for any destination. He said the former prime minister was in good health.

The official Saudi Press Agency said Sharif was allowed to come to the kingdom for medical treatment. He was received at the airport in Jiddah by the Mecca governor, Prince Abdel-Majid bin Abdulaziz, the agency said.

Traveling with him were his elderly parents, his three children and their families, as well as his brother Shahbaz, a former chief minister of Pakistan's powerful Punjab province, and his wife and daughter. Also allowed to leave was Sharif's younger brother Abbas and his two sons.

While Sharif's life sentence was commuted, he has been ordered to forfeit property valued at $100 million and pay a $500,000 fine. Sharif's family, which owns steel mills and sugar mills, reportedly handed over at least two factories to the government. Sharif, who talked like a populist but lived like a king, made good friends among Persian Gulf leaders, among them Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, Sharif is likely to enjoy the same comforts as Amin, who diplomats say lives comfortably in a Jiddah suburban villa. But the generosity of his Saudi hosts cannot match the lavishness of Sharif's 22-room palatial mansion in the Pakistani town of Raiwind, which the army has exhibited as an example of his alleged ill-gained fortune.

``They shouldn't have let him go,'' said Mohammed Sidiq, a 44-year-old Pakistani cab driver in Riyadh. ``His imprisonment would have served as a deterrent for future leaders. Most of our politicians are corrupt.''