NEW YORK, Sept 5: A major US newspaper warned on Wednesday that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s tough stand against President Gen Musharraf carried political risks, adding that a confrontation with the government could incite more violence and allow the military to re-assert control over the country.

“That Mr Sharif is now in a possible position to determine Pakistan’s fate marks the latest chapter in a long political career during which he has often benefited from going along with the military -- not against it,” the Wall Street Journal said.

“A scion of one of the country’s richest business families from Lahore, Mr Sharif was groomed by military ruler Gen Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq. In 1981, when he was 31 years old, Mr Sharif left his father’s steel business to become finance minister of the powerful state of Punjab. Four years later, he became Punjab’s chief minister, or top civil servant, during a period of martial law”.

The WSJ said that Mr Sharif’s political fortunes had soared recently after he fashioned himself as a champion of democratic rule at a time when Gen Musharraf’s political stock has plummeted, forcing the president to seek an alliance with another old foe, Ms Bhutto, who also has been living abroad.

The newspaper said that Mr Sharif’s supporters believe he fits into Pakistan’s moderate middle that many Western governments find politically palatable.

His pro-business policies and stance on anti-terrorism would make Pakistan a better ally of the US than it is now under Gen Musharraf, they argue. But

the US has been much more actively encouraging a deal between Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto.However, the US officials told the newspaper “they increasingly realise that a political deal between Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto could play into Mr Sharif’s hands, at least in the short term”.

Many current and former US officials express similar concerns about Mr Sharif’s return to Pakistani politics as they do about Ms Bhutto’s, viewing him as an indecisive leader whose earlier governments tolerated corruption and undermined Pakistan’s economy.

However, writing about Mr Sharif’s own record while in power, the WSJ said: “In office, Mr Sharif wasn’t renowned for his protection of basic freedoms.”