Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif chose to go back into exile to avoid being detained and standing trial, Pakistan's deputy information minister said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp.
Sharif flew to Pakistan after seven years in exile hoping to campaign against the country's US-allied military ruler, but commandoes surrounded his plane and within hours he was flown to Saudi Arabia.
However, Minister of State for Information Tariq Azim denied that Sharif had been deported, saying he chose to leave Pakistan to avoid prosecution on corruption charges. He also suggested it was up to Saudi Arabia whether Sharif could return to politics in Pakistan within the next three years.
"It was a choice given to him that either he goes to a detention centre and be detained and tried, or he goes and completes his 10-year (exile) agreement that he has signed with the Saudi government," Azim told BBC in an interview, according to excerpts provided before its broadcast.
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