Ex-PM Sharif supporters released

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Hundreds of supporters of ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrested last week are being released.

They were held ahead of Mr Sharif's abortive return to Pakistan from exile on Monday.

He was deported to Saudi Arabia within hours after being charged with money laundering and corruption

Mr Sharif's return was seen as a major threat to President Musharraf's government ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections due this year.

Mr Sharif's PML-N party is challenging his deportation in the Supreme Court.

Another former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, has said she will announce her plans to return to Pakistan on Friday.

Less worried

"The president has ordered the release of the activists as a Ramadan goodwill gesture," a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Ramadan is Islam's sacred month of fasting and is greeted with religious fervour in Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Mr Sharif's supporters confront police in Islamabad

But analysts say Mr Sharif's supporters in his PML-N party are being released because the government is now less worried about them being a threat to Gen Musharraf.

The PML-N failed to deliver the massive show of strength on the streets for Mr Sharif that they had promised.

PML-N leaders and activists were conspicuous by their large-scale absence during Mr Sharif's homecoming.

Local leaders were later castigated by the party high command for failing to provide a challenge to the authorities.

Observers say this lack of effort was noted by the authorities and has contributed to the decision to release PML-N activists.

At least 100 PML-N activists and leaders were released on Wednesday.

The rest were expected to be let go by the authorities on Thursday.

Hopes

PML-N leaders say at least 4,000 activists were arrested all over Pakistan after Mr Sharif announced his return.

He originally went into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000, after Gen Musharraf deposed him in a coup the previous year.

In recent weeks, Mr Sharif hoped to stage a comeback after the Supreme Court ruled in August that he could return to the country.

That decision created what was seen by analysts as a nightmare scenario for President Musharraf's regime.

The problems were compounded when talks between the government and Ms Bhutto broke down.

Ms Bhutto is head of the PPP, Pakistan's largest political party.

Observers believe a deal with the PPP could allow President Musharraf to continue his hold on power.

The president's term in office expires in October 2007, and he intends to get re-elected before that date.