Asked if foreign dignitaries had colluded in his brother’s expulsion from Islamabad airport last week, Shabaz said: “I deeply resent involvement of any country in Pakistan’s internal affairs, be it the US or any other country. It’s in the papers that Boucher (US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher) was there and Negroponte (Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte) were there in Islamabad on the day this drama was unfolding.

There have been tons of stories in the newspapers that the Americans were involved and Musharraf tried to involve the Saudis. What I’m saying is that it’s Musharraf trying to wash his dirty linen in public.I would put it this way. I hold Musharraf 100 per cent responsible for the abduction. If there was a foreign intervention, it is very sad because he has compromised the sovereignty and dignity of Pakistan and he has opened the flood gates of foreign intervention even on internal matters”

“If we talk about Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia has been one of the truest friends of Pakistan. To have involved them in this affair, Musharraf hardly realises he has done a great disservice to the cause of Pakistan. It’s very painful. God knows how this fissure will be repaired.”