New York Times's Background on Nawaz Sharif

NYT: Nawaz Sharif, 57, from one of the richest business families in Lahore, was twice prime minister in the 1990s. He came to power in 1990 with close links to military and intelligence agencies but gained popularity and won a large majority for a second term in 1997.

Yet he clamped down on the news media, civil liberties and the Supreme Court, and faced accusations of gross mismanagement and corruption.

The enmity between him and General Musharraf stretches back to October 1999, when Mr. Sharif was prime minister and General Musharraf his chief of army staff, and Mr. Sharif ordered the general’s dismissal.

As General Musharraf was returning from a trip to Sri Lanka, Mr. Sharif signed the dismissal order and refused to allow his plane to land. Senior military officers overruled the order as the plane was running low on fuel, and General Musharraf swiftly carried out a coup and imprisoned Mr. Sharif and his brothers on charges of hijacking a plane, terrorism and corruption.

Mr. Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment but the following year General Musharraf arranged for Mr. Sharif, his brother, and their families to live in exile for 10 years in Saudi Arabia.