Sharif Vows to End Dictatorship

Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif touched down in Lahore after eight years in exile and, amid the cheers of thousands, vowed to end the dictatorship of President Pervez Musharraf: "We want democracy and nothing else."  Musharraf blocked Sharif's last  attempted return, in September, deporting him before he made it out of the airport, but this time bowed to Saudi pressure.

Sharif was to discuss a boycott of the upcoming January 8 elections with Pakistan's other key opposition leader and recently-returned ex-PM, Benazir Bhutto, who recently failed in attempts to forge a power-sharing deal with Musharraf, but the Times of India reports that both are to file nomination papers tomorrow. The elections, already considered questionable under emergency rule, would lose all credibility if both leaders boycott. (More Pervez Musharraf stories.)