ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Tuesday that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would not succumb to any threats from the Musharraf regime and would return to Pakistan on Sept 10 as planned.

“There is no change in his plans and his seats are booked with three airlines on the date,” he told a crowded press conference here. He said a final decision would be taken by Mr Sharif on the night of Sept 8.

He said that initially Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif were supposed to come to Islamabad by a chartered flight and a request to this effect had been sent to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), but the plan was changed owing to apprehensions about possible hindrances from the government.

He said that the Sharif brothers would be accompanied by a large number of foreign and Pakistani mediapersons and chiefs of his party in different countries.

He criticised the government for arresting PML-N leaders and workers throughout Punjab, one week ahead of Nawaz Sharif’s return. He said the government was so upset that it was employing all negative tactics to obstruct his return and prevent people from according a rousing welcome to their leader.

He said leaders and workers of the PML-N and other components of the All Parties Democratic Movement and people from different walks of life would give a warm welcome to the Sharif brothers at the Islamabad International Airport.

Expressing serious concern over the situation in Waziristan, he regretted that over 300 armed forces personnel were missing. He pointed out that all of them were armed and were moving as a unit, and said that this was not the first incident of this kind.

He claimed that over 1,000 armed forces personnel had been killed in the recent past by a ragtag band of armed persons. He said Gen Pervez Musharraf was responsible for this bad name earned by the army.

He regretted that the Director-General of ISI, who should have been in the country at this critical juncture, was negotiating a political deal to save Musharraf’s uniform and perpetuate his rule.