BBC Monitoring

Text of report by Saudi news agency SPA website

An authoritative source has denied the reports published by some Pakistani newspapers on Saturday 19 Sha'ban 1428 Hegira, corresponding to 1 September 2007, which contained allegations about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's satisfaction at and support for the return of Nawaz Sharif and his family to Pakistan.

The source said in a statement to SPA that the reports are absolutely untrue. The source emphasized that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiative to receive Mr Nawaz Sharif after his removal from office as prime minister in 1999 proceeded from a humanitarian principle to which the Pakistani Government and His Excellency President Pervez Musharraf agreed.

This response reflected the strength of the ties between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and also between their brotherly peoples.

Concluding, the source emphasized that contrary to what has been reported, wisdom necessitates that Mr Nawaz Sharif adhere to his pr! omises not to return to Pakistan and political action.

Source: SPA news agency website, Riyadh, in Arabic 1808 gmt 4 Sep 07