LAHORE (Reuters):

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile yesterday to confront his arch-rival President Pervez Musharraf who has imposed emergency rule on the country.

Sharif, who was overthrown by General Musharraf in a bloodless coup eight years ago, said he was determined to rid the country of dictatorship.

"We want democracy and nothing else," Sharif told the BBC by telephone on arriving back in his hometown Lahore from exile in Saudi Arabia. "I am here to play my role and also make my own efforts to rid the country of dictatorship."