Sharif set to return to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will try to return to Pakistan on Sunday, his second attempt since September, CNN has confirmed.

The last time Sharif tried to return from exile, he was quickly deported by the government of the man who ousted him in 1999: President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Sharif, leader of the opposition party Pakistan Muslim League, has been in exile in Saudi Arabia. He was convicted of tax evasion and treason after being ousted but was released in 2000 in exchange for agreeing to 10 years of exile in Saudi Arabia.

Sharif retained his Pakistani citizenship but has not been allowed to travel to Pakistan or directly take part in Pakistani politics.

His return comes a month after his predecessor and another opposition leader Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan, herself from exile. An attack on her motorcade in Karachi on the night of her return on October 18 left at least 140 people dead.

Meanwhile Saturday, at least 16 Pakistani Defense Ministry workers were killed and an unknown number hurt in two suicide bombings targeting security forces in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, a military spokesman said.

One of the bombings targeted a bus filled with civilian employees of the Ministry of Defense; another attack took place at a checkpoint near the main military headquarters in Rawalpindi, Lt. Col. Baseer Haider Malik said.

The bus was on its way into a Defense Ministry complex in the Faizabad section of Rawalpindi when a car loaded with explosives rammed it from the rear and detonated, he said.

The military spokesman said it is likely the death toll will rise since there were more than 30 workers on the bus. Watch images from the scene where the bus was attacked »

The other suicide car bomb exploded as the vehicle was stopped as it approached a checkpoint outside the military's general headquarters in Rawalpindi, he said.

The bomber was the only person killed in the attack, while three military guards were wounded, he said.

Pakistani police and military security kept journalists away from the scene of the bus bomb. Some reporters were detained and police confiscated some cameras, tapes and memory cards. A CNN crew was threatened with detention unless they left the area.

The developments came amid a state of emergency declared on November 3 by Musharraf, whose office at army headquarters where he serves as military chief is in Rawalpindi. He has called the measure necessary to counter rising tensions and terrorism.

His opponents, however, say he used the measure to suspend the constitution, fire the country's Supreme Court justices and solidify power. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Karl Penhaul and Zein Basravi contributed to this report

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