Zardari returns to Pakistan after 18-month self exile

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardaris private jet has landed at old Jinnah airport here on Friday, local TV channels reported.

Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and other party leaders received the PPP co-chairman, who has returned to his homeland after spending 18 months in self-imposed exile in Dubai.

According to latest media reports, Zardari arrived in a private jet, which is reportedly belong to a businessman.

PPP laader Rehman Malik was also travelling with Asif Ali Zardai, who was also accompanied by his security guards in the private jet, according to source.

A special bomb-proof truck was brought at the old terminal to take Zardari to the venue of a PPP rally being staged by the party workers to welcome the PPP co-chairman.

Former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf along with other senior party leaders including Naveed Qamar and Khursheed Shah were also present at the old terminal and met the former president at the VIP lounge.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has also arrived in Karachi and tweeted pictures of his father at the airport and departing from the Dubai residence.