JEDDAH, Sept 10: A number of Saudi officials, understood to be from the protocol department, received former primer minister Nawaz Sharif who landed at the Royal Terminal here on Monday on what has been termed the second exile of his political carrier. Mr Sharif embraced the Saudi officials and some photographs were taken on the occasion. The pictures, however, were not released to the press till the evening.

No official of the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh or the consulate in Jeddah was at the airport to receive the former prime minister, although Ambassador Admiral (retd) Shahid Karimullah was in the city.

Talking to Dawn some time before the PIA Airbus carrying Mr Sharif landed, the ambassador said that going to the airport was not on his schedule. He added that he was in Jeddah on some other official assignment. He categorically stated that no one from the embassy or the consulate would be at the airport to receive Mr Sharif.

However, sources present at the tarmac told this correspondent that besides the Saudi protocol officers, there was a gentleman in shalwar-kameez and waist-coast at the terminal.

The convoy carrying Mr Sharif raced away from the airport, with sirens blaring. He was taken to a mansion, said to be owned by the Sharifs and known here as Sharif Palace. It is located near the US consulate.

Initially it was thought that Mr Sharif would be lodged at the Saroor Palace, owned by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, where the Sharifs lived since their arrival here in December 2000 till they left the Kingdom for London.

Although it is difficult to say at this stage how much politics

Mian Sahib would be able to engage in from here, it is believed that things could be difficult for him this time.

Till 2006, he enjoyed some latitude and regularly hosted opposition leaders from Pakistan, from (late) Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, Benazir Bhutto, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Qazi Hussain Ahmad to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Leaders of his party calling on him at the Saroor Palace was a regular phenomenon. Mian Sahib regularly met journalists, especially those known to be sympathetic to his PML-N.

It is no secret that the Saudi leadership was not comfortable with his political activities but did little to impose any restrictions, except for the few months after Mian Shahbaz Sharif was sent back to Jeddah from Lahore in 2004.

This time Mian Sahib might find it quite difficult to engage in politics from here, a senior analyst said here on Monday. Recent developments, particularly those of the past week, would definitely change the attitude of the royal family, he added.

When the Saudi news agency, SPA, carried a statement by a Saudi government source last week rejecting reports in some Pakistani newspapers that the Saudi government would welcome Mr Sharif’s return to Pakistan, it was considered here as something unprecedented. This was different from the usual Saudi style of diplomacy.

The spokesman said that the Saudi government expected the former prime minister to abide by the pledge he had made to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Then on Saturday when the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, and Saad Hariri addressed a press conference in Islamabad urging Mian Sahib to abide by the undertaking, the Saudi position became all the more clear.

AFP adds: Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it “welcomed” Mr Shari’s return to his former exile home.

“Nawaz Sharif is a guest of Saudi Arabia, which welcomed his coming to live in the kingdom once again,” the official SPA news agency said.

Mr Sharif arrived in Jeddah and was greeted by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Miqren bin Abdul Aziz, SPA said.