Shahbaz gives police the slip

Pakistan's opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif gave a slip to the police and went into hiding on Sunday, before he could be served orders for his house arrest, a party spokesman said.

Shahbaz, former Punjab chief minister, whose party is supporting the anti-government 'long-march' set to culminate with a sit-in near Parliament in Islamabad on Monday, had gone to the home of PML-N leader Chaudhry Tanveer Khan in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, which was surrounded by a large contingent of security personnel.

After a cat-and-mouse game with police who had arrived at the Rawalpindi house to serve detention orders, Shahbaz slipped away and went into hiding, PML-N spokesmanSiddique-ul-Farooq said.

Earlier, local media had reported that Shahbaz was placed under house arrest. A large number of PML-N workers had also gathered outside the house where Shahbaz stopped for some time on the eve of the sit-in by the lawyers and opposition activists, who had been demanding restoration of the judges sacked during the 2007 emergency rule by the then President Pervez Musharraf.

Shahbaz and his brother Nawaz Sharif, the two-time former premier, decided to back the long march after the supreme court last month barred them from contesting polls and holding public offices. Following the apex court order, Shahbaz was removed as Punjab Chief Minister.