Pakistan on Friday denounced an international organization's suspension of its membership, while an opposition party said its exiled leader was taking steps to return to the emergency-ruled country.

The government condemned the banishment from the Commonwealth as "unreasonable and unjustified" and said the 53-nation body, comprising Britain and its former colonies, had failed to appreciate Pakistan's "serious internal crisis" in demanding that it immediately restore democracy.

Meanwhile, the return of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from Saudi Arabia could bolster opponents of President General Pervez Musharraf before January 8 parliamentary elections.

Zafar Ali Shah, vice-president of Sharif's party, said on Friday that the exiled leader would be in Pakistan next week.

"There is no doubt about it," Shah said. "Nawaz Sharif will be with us next week, but at this stage we cannot say exactly when and where he will arrive."

Sharif's plan was announced on Thursday hours after the Supreme Court, packed with pliant judges, swept away the last legal obstacles to Musharraf's new five-year term as president.

On Friday, the court also declared that Musharraf's seizure of emergency powers legal. "All acts and actions taken are also validated," Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar said.

The leader was expected to give up his post as army chief within days in hopes of cooling domestic and foreign criticism over his suspension of three-week-old emergency.

Presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi declined to say what Musharraf would do if Sharif tried to enter Pakistan. Sharif was swiftly deported to Saudi Arabia when he tried to return in September.

That expulsion was supported by Saudi Arabia's government, but Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of Musharraf's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, said Sharif now had "some deal" with Saudi authorities.

"We are ready to face him and he has to face the people" in the elections, Hussain said on Dawn News television.

Musharraf has insisted that Sharif stay out of Pakistan until after the vote , which the West hopes will produce a moderate government able to turn the tide against Islamic militants who have gained ground along the border with Afghanistan.

Speculation that Saudi Arabia wanted Sharif to go home had been rife since Musharraf made a surprise trip to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for talks with King Abdullah on Tuesday.

Sharif was to meet the king on Friday and hopes to return to Pakistan before the end of the month, his party said.

An official in Musharraf's office said that the general had "softened" his approach toward Sharif. "The hope is that he (Sharif) will not act like Benazir Bhutto who is following the politics of confrontation," said the official. "If he agrees to do it, he will be allowed to return home even before the elections."

The re-emergence of a heavyweight rival is a headache for Musharraf as he tries to defend the emergency against stiff criticism, including from the United States. It could also complicate the hopes of Bhutto, who returned in October and has been favored by the West, regaining power.

Agencies

(China Daily 11/24/2007 page11)