ISLAMABAD, April 23: Interior Minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat on Friday said the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) government was not empowered to provide refuge to former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Responding to a report about Mr Sharif's possible landing at Peshawar, the minister told Dawn that the NWFP government had no legal standing to protect the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).

"Now the Supreme Court has also given its verdict that Mr Sharif can return, but he has to face the law," the minister said. "We are not worried about his return because the law will take its course," he said.

The interior minister further said that an agreement had been signed between the government and the Sharif family in 2000 under which the family was obliged to remain in exile in Saudi Arabia for 10 years.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Thursday had said that Shahbaz Sharif could land in Peshawar if the latter feared that he would be deported on landing in Lahore.

The MMA's deputy general secretary, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed has told the media that the NWFP government would fully protect and facilitate Shahbaz Sharif, if he returns.