"Yes he will be allowed to land," retired General Rashid Qureshi told the Observer, referring to Sharif's planned arrival at Lahore airport tomorrow afternoon aboard a chartered Saudi jet.

Musharraf ejected Sharif, whom he deposed as prime minister in a 1999 coup, from Pakistan when he tried to return last September. Four hours after landing in Islamabad the burly politician was bundled onto a Saudi-bound airliner.

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Qureshi said: "Discussions were carried out on Nawaz Sharif's return. The president said there is no issue, he can return if he wants to."

Sharif's return is a potent addition to Pakistan's political cauldron, with Musharraf struggling to maintain power against a backdrop of great instability and rising Islamist violence.

Today two suicide bombers struck outside army headquarters in Rawalpindi, killing at least 35 people. One bomb hit an army checkpoint; the other a bus laden with employees from the powerful Inter Services Intelligence agency.

They were the first major attacks since Musharraf imposed emergency rule three weeks ago. Musharraf, who insists he wants to become a civilian ruler, is under intense international pressure to lift the emergency and make good on promises to resign as head of the army.

Today the national election commission cleared Musharraf to take oath as a civilian president following the defeat of all legal challenges to his re-election. His spokesman, Qureshi, said that once the federal government is officially notified on Monday, Musharraf may take off his uniform as early as Tuesday. "I don't think it's going to take long. I would estimate a day or two [after Monday] before change of baton of the army, then oath taking," he said.

The return of Sharif will complicate Musharraf's plans to remain in power. The two have been nursing a nasty feud since 1999, when Musharraf ousted Sharif as prime minister as part of the bloodless coup that brought him to power. Musharraf said the move had been triggered by Sharif's clumsy attempt to remove him as head of the army.

A year later Sharif was released from prison on condition of agreeing to a 10-year exile in Saudi Arabia. Local media reported that Musharraf tried to persuade Saudi authorities to keep him there during his flying visit earlier this week. But the Saudis insisted he had to go home.

Sharif is due to fly from Medina to Lahore aboard a plane chartered by the Saudi royal family and arriving at 3pm (10pm GMT). That gives him enough time to file his nomination papers for planned January 8 elections by Monday.

Musharraf aides put a brave face on his return, framing it in terms of national reconciliation. "The president's a very magnanimous man. Nawaz Sharif is the head of one political party. If the rest of the political leaders can come to Pakistan, then he can too," said Qureshi.

Sharif aides denied his return had been greased by a political agreement. "Nawaz will die but he will not make a deal with Musharraf," said Javed Hashmi, the acting president of his Pakistan Muslim League-N party, on Friday.

The drama underscores the weight of Saudi influence in Pakistan. Local media reported that Riyadh wanted Sharif, a conservative who as prime minister once tried to have himself titled "commander of the faithful", to return as a counterweight to Benazir Bhutto, a relatively secular and liberal woman.

The return also spells trouble for Musharraf's political associates. His Pakistan Muslim League-Q party draws on the same vote bank as Sharif in Punjab, the country's most populous and powerful province. A strong showing by Sharif in the January poll could scupper Musharraf's chances of a stranglehold on parliament. Yesterday his former prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, said he would not be contesting the January vote.