Ex-PM Sharif returns to Pakistan

Pakistan's three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived home yesterday from four years of self-imposed exile in London, aiming to kick start his party's campaign for next year's election and targeting former premier Imran Khan as the biggest rival.

The 73-year-old veteran politician returned to his eastern hometown of Lahore, where he will lead a rally hours after his chartered plane landed in Islamabad carrying more than 150 people from his party and media organisations, the party and sources said.

Local TV news channels showed Sharif disembarking from a helicopter at a helipad close to the Minar-e-Pakistan monument where thousands of his supporters were waiting for his address.

During a brief stay in the Islamabad airport lounge he signed and filed appeals against the convictions he was jailed for before he left the country in 2019.

"The process to sign and verify legal documents have been completed," close aide Ishaq Dar posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rallies from various regions of the South Asian country were pouring into Lahore ahead of his arrival, a party spokesperson said. Heavy police contingents were deployed to guard the rally's venue, said police officer Ali Nasir Rizvi.

Sharif had not set foot in Pakistan since leaving for London in 2019 to receive medical treatment while serving a 14-year prison sentence for corruption. His convictions remain in force, but a court on Thursday barred authorities from arresting him until Tuesday, when he is to appear in court.

While he cannot run for or hold public office because of his convictions, his legal team says he plans to appeal and his party says he aims to become prime minister for a fourth time.

Sharif's biggest challenge will be to wrestle back his support base from his main rival, Khan, who despite being in jail remains popular following his ouster from the premiership in 2022.

Khan, too, is disqualified from the election because of his August graft conviction, which he has appealed.