Islamabad, Nov. 22 (AP): Exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has secured an agreement with Saudi Arabia to let him return to Pakistan, the head of the ruling party said today.

“There is some deal” with Saudi authorities for Sharif to come back, said Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) party. He suggested that Sharif would be back in Pakistan before the January 8 parliamentary elections, despite the resistance of President Musharraf. “We are ready to face him and he has to face the people,” Hussain said on Dawn News television.