No friend of the US, will he displace Musharraf, and make more military commitments to Riyadh?
The question of why the Saudis agreed to let Nawaz Sharif -- no special friend of the United States -- leave his exile in Riyadh and return home to Pakistan to confront President Pervez Musharraf, has not quite been adequately dealt with. Was there some "understanding" between Washington and Riyadh that Sharif's return would somehow boost America's already dismal standing in the Gulf region? Or was Sharif fomenting intolerable mischief within Saudi Arabia through his connections with the more radical elements of Islam, that the Saudis felt it best that they break their pledge to Washington and let Sharif fly the coop? Or was it that Sharif promised that, should he become prime minister again, he would increase Pakistan's contingent of troops protecting the royals in Saudi Arabia, perhaps even stationing some of his country's nuclear weapons there?