Pakistan in crisis?

Again, I'm not enough of a Pakistan expert to judge the validity of this threat, but as Musharraf has arrested 2,000 of Sharif's supporters, I think we have to look at this as a rather serious juncture.

"I will go back to Pakistan on Sept. 10 with my brother because my country needs me," Sharif said Saturday at a news conference in London. "I am going to lead the people of Pakistan against the dictatorship, and the dictator sitting in Islamabad should give up his futile efforts to stop me."

But there is some context. He could just be trying to short circuit the Musharraf/Bhutto deal to get his party a spot at the table.

Analysts say Sharif's return could upset talks on a power-sharing pact between his archrivals Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, another exiled former premier plotting a political comeback in the country, which is a key U.S. ally in the war on terror.

Anyway, he's planning to land tomorrow.