ISLAMABAD_ President General Musharraf of Pakistan came under fire today for the expulsion of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with newspapers dismissing the government’s claim that he returned willingly to exile.

Mr. Sharif flew in from London on Monday to challenge the already troubled re-election plans of General Musharraf, who toppled Mr. Sharif’s government in a 1999 bloodless coup. Authorities halted him at the terminal and he left a few hours later for Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Sharif had said he was ready to risk jail by coming home. But officials said yesterday that when they offered him a choice between arrest on corruption charges or exile, he chose the latter.

“No one is going to quite buy this argument,” the Lahore-based Nation newspaper wrote in its editorial today. “For him to come to Pakistan only to be jetted to Saudi Arabia makes no sense. It is clear that he was sent against his will.”

The manner of Mr. Sharif’s departure is already the subject of a complaint to the Supreme Court from the two-time ex-premier’s supporters.

The court, which is emerging as the main threat to General Musharraf’s hold on power, ruled last month that Mr. Sharif had an “inalienable” right to enter his homeland. It is unclear when it might rule on the latest case.

As well as deepening General Musharraf’s legal problems, Mr. Sharif’s removal could deepen his unpopularity and reinforce impressions that he is an authoritarian leader. It also could undermine the legitimacy of legislative elections due by January.

“Unless the government provides even chances to all politicians in exile to come back to the country and play their role to establish real democracy instead of usurping their rights, no one can believe the sincerity of the rulers,” the Urdu language Nawa-I-Waqt daily said.

General Musharraf also faces rising Islamic extremism recently underlined by a spate of deadly suicide attacks blamed on pro-Taliban militants based near the Afghan border.

American Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte arrived in Pakistan today for talks on counterterrorism and other aspects of American-Pakistani relations, the American Embassy said.

Opposition leaders have vowed to mount street protests to unseat the government. However, demonstrations yesterday in several cities were small and passed without incident.

Opposition to General Musharraf has grown since his failed attempt in March to fire the Supreme Court’s chief justice.

However, it has been weakened by the decision of Benazir Bhutto, another exiled former premier, to enter talks with General Musharraf that could lead to them sharing power.

An agreement could help defuse expected legal challenges to Musharraf seeking a fresh five-year term from lawmakers and quash legal cases pending against Bhutto, who left the country in 1999 in the face of corruption charges.

The presidential vote is due between September 15 and October 15 and the election commission said Tuesday that the schedule will be announced within days.