It was not immediately clear whether Sharif, whom Musharraf deposed in a bloodless 1999 coup, would get back before November 26, the last date for filing election nominations and so be able to run for parliament.
Musharraf had accepted the return of Sharif during discussions with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, according to Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, chairman of the Nawaz League as Sharif’s faction of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), is known.

Politically isolated, Musharraf paid a surprise visit to Riyadh on Tuesday sparking speculation that he was reaching out to his old foe to shore up his support base ahead of a January 8 general election.
Sharif flew to Riyadh overnight from the Red Sea port of Jeddah, where he has stayed since the Pakistani authorities deported him after he tried ending his exile last September.

“Nawaz Sharif is meeting Saudi King Abdullah and will announce his schedule after that,” Raja said.

Defections likely
Musharraf imposed a two-term limit on the prime ministership in 2002, which currently bars both Sharif and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from another term.

Bhutto flew to Islamabad from Karachi on Friday, to meet her party leadership. She made no comment on arrival.
Having spent eight years trying to marginalise Sharif, and having allowed back Bhutto last month, Musharraf appears to have admitted his failure to re-engineer Pakistan’s polity, sundered by the coup that ended a decade of chaotic civilian rule.

Aaj Television news channel quoted Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, leader of PML, as saying that a deal had been worked out for Sharif’s return and his party was unconcerned that its former chief was returning.

Shujaat Hussain was probably putting on a brave face, as many of his party could flock to Sharif’s banner, as Musharraf and his intelligence officials appeared to have done a deal.

Sharif said he had had no contact with Musharraf or his aides during their Saudi visit this week, but he is believed to have met Lieutenant-General Nadeem Taj, head of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, who stayed behind in Saudi Arabia a little longer.

Musharraf has already started to roll back the emergency, releasing some 5,000 opposition activists and lawyers rounded up after it was imposed on November 3. Private TV channel ARYone World resumed broadcasting on Friday.

Several top judges and lawyers whose interpretation of the law posed the most serious challenge to Musharraf’s authority remain either in prison or under house arrest.