Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf offered him an "underhand" deal to form a joint government but he turned it down.
Addressing the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary committee on Tuesday, Sharif said: "Musharraf wanted a secret deal with me in 2007, but I declined."
Musharraf was the then Pakistan President and Sharif had just returned from exile.
The Dawn on Wednesday quoted Sharif as saying that he didn`t believe in making clandestine deals with people who had ruined people`s aspirations.
He said his family did not want to leave Pakistan after the Musharraf-led military coup but was forced to go into exile by the military dictator.
"We left the country in a miserable condition and were not allowed to return for a long time," he said.
The Prime Minister noted that Musharraf, a former Pakistan Army chief, was now facing a similar fate and had left the country in disgrace.
"Now, Musharraf is willing to return to the country, but he cannot... it`s divine retribution for his actions," Sharif said.
Sharif was toppled by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, after which Sharif and his family went to live in Saudi Arabia.
However, Sharif`s assertions were disputed by former Musharraf aide and All Pakistan Muslim League member Ahmed Raza Kasuri, the Dawn reported.
"I have been working with Gen. Musharraf for a long time and I have never heard any such thing," he said.