Islamabad, Nov 22 : A top security official of the Musharraf regime has reached ‘minimum understanding’, who accompanied President Pervez Musharraf to Riyadh, stayed back and met former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the presence of Saudi royal family members.

"The Saudis succeeded in creating a minimum understanding for peaceful coexistence between the two sides," well placed sources said.

This understanding could lead to Sharif leaving Saudi Arabia in the next few days, and probably return to Pakistan.

Whether he goes first or, sends his brother or other family members, is to be decided by the Sharif family, they added.

Saudi Arabia’s envoy in Pakistan, Ali Saeed Awadh Assiri, who played an important role, is also staying back in Jeddah. He came to the airport to see off Musharraf.

Diplomatic sources said that the understanding between the parties would unfold through several actions in the days to come.

The understanding is entirely different to the deal Musharraf had with Benazir Bhutto in which the two parties had to compromise on a number of issues.

However, when contacted separately, neither the PML-N nor the government confirmed the news.

Central Information Secretary of the PML-N Ahsan Iqbal, however, said Sharif had not met anyone from the government camp and he would not oblige any request from the unconstitutional regime of Musharraf.

Musharraf’s spokesman, Major General (retired) Rashid Qureshi, denied the meeting between Musharraf and Sharif.

The General arrived in Jeddah late in the evening on Tuesday from Riyadh and proceeded straight to Mecca to perform Umrah with his brief entourage, he said.

According to reports when he came back to the port city, Sharif, who lives in a posh area of the city, left for offering his Isha (night prayers) in a mosque in the vicinity with his male family members and some newsmen of Jeddah.

Sharif spent more than two hours in the mosque and in the meantime officials kept on trying to contact him, but he was not available, sources said.

Musharraf spent less than 16 hours in Riyadh and left for Jeddah after talks with King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.

Interestingly, Saudi Arabia’s ambassadors to the United States Adel A. Al-Jubeir and to Pakistan Ali Saeed Awadh Assiri were present in the meetings with the King Abdullah.

The presence of the Saudi envoy to the US was important since it indicated that the US would also be on board in the ongoing interaction between Sharif and the authorities in Pakistan, sources added.

Meanwhile, Sharif said that Musharraf’s visit had failed to place any restrictions on his movements and speech and he was determined to return to Pakistan and to fight for the cause of an independent judiciary and free media, The News reported. (ANI)