NEW YORK, Sept 11: President Pervez Musharraf’s strong move against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif “would enable him to stand up to Mr Sharif’s allies in Pakistan” and go ahead with the power-sharing deal with another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, a Bush administration official was quoted as saying by the New York Times on Tuesday.

The newspaper said in a report that the “Bush administration official, declining to be identified because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the issue, said the deportation was “not necessarily the worst thing that could happen”. “While the United States is loath to appear publicly as if it is interfering in Pakistan’s politics, the Bush administration has been urging Gen Musharraf to agree to a power-sharing deal with another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.”

The power-sharing pact was viewed within the Bush administration as a way to both shore up Gen Musharraf’s rapidly flagging support in Pakistan and stop him from exercising emergency powers, as hardliners within his party have urged, the NYT said.

It also noted: “A deal appeared close two weeks ago but stalled as some of Gen Musharraf’s backers in Pakistan balked at the idea, American and Pakistani officials said.”

On the corruption charges presented to Mr Sharif on his arrival at Islamabad airport, the Times quoted him as saying as he was shoved through the crowd: “I am amazed by this fabricated case, “I’m amazed, I’m shocked.”

A court official representing the National Accountability Bureau told Times an arrest warrant had been served on Mr Sharif, charging him with money laundering.

He said that the charges were the results of a three-year investigation surrounding a paper mill owned by Mr Sharif, and that the amount involved was about $31.5 million.