Sharif's shadow looms over Pakistan's Musharraf

By Simon Cameron-Moore

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistan Supreme Court decision on Thursday to allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return from exile will reinforce growing doubts over President Pervez Musharraf's grip on power.

General Musharraf overthrew Sharif eight years ago, and co-opted the rump of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League to form his own political base.

The timing for a return by Sharif, and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, could hardly be more awkward for Musharraf, who, with his popularity plunging, is expected to seek re-election from the national and provincial assemblies between mid-September and mid-October and hold parliamentary elections within months.

Just last week, Sharif told a news channel NDTV he regarded Musharraf as "a drowning man" with no options left.

Sharif, 57, was prime minister for two terms in the 1990s before his ouster in 1999, and he still commands popularity in the politically crucial province of Punjab.

After the coup, Sharif was convicted for graft and given a life sentence for hijacking.

The hijacking charge related to Sharif's refusal to allow landing rights to a passenger jet bringing army chief Musharraf back from Sri Lanka, despite it being desperately short of fuel. The army quickly launched a coup to save its chief.

Sharif was allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000, but later relocated to London, from where he sought to mobilize opposition against Musharraf.

He forged an Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy with archrival Benazir Bhutto, another two-time prime minister living in exile, and in 2006 the two leaders of Pakistan's largest mainstream parties signed a Charter of Democracy.

But Bhutto and Sharif differed over the strategy for dealing with Pakistan's military leader.

Bhutto decided it was better to negotiate with Musharraf, who at least shares similar progressive moderate leanings, to enable a transition to democracy.

But Sharif has refused to have any dealings with the general.

Whether or not she reaches any power sharing deal with Musharraf, Bhutto also plans to return to campaign for the parliamentary elections.

At odds with Bhutto once again, Sharif last month aligned his PML with mostly conservative, religious parties to form the All Parties Democratic Movement.

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