Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday claimed that former president Pervez Musharraf offered him an "underhand" deal in 2007 but he turned it down.
"Musharraf wanted a secret deal with me in 2007, but I declined," Sharif said while addressing the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
Musharraf was then Pakistan President and Sharif had just returned from exile.
The Dawn on Wednesday quoted Sharif as saying that he didn't believe in making clandestine deals with people who had ruined people's aspirations.
“Musharraf offered me the deal directly, but I turned it down,” Sharif, who was removed by the general in a military coup said.
Sharif said Musharraf was willing to meet him and made several attempts to do so in the past "but I declined.”
He said his family did not want to leave Pakistan after the Musharraf-led military coup but was forced to go into exile by the military dictator.
"We left the country in a miserable condition and were not allowed to return for a long time," he said.
The Prime Minister noted that Musharraf, a former Pakistan Army chief, was now facing a similar fate and had left the country in disgrace.
"Now, Musharraf is willing to return to the country, but he cannot... it's divine retribution for his actions," Sharif said.
The civilian government was toppled by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, after which Sharif and his family went to live in Saudi Arabia and returned to Pakistan in Nov 2007.
However, Sharif's assertions were disputed by former Musharraf aide and All Pakistan Muslim League member Ahmed Raza Kasuri, the Dawn reported.
"I have been working with Gen. Musharraf for a long time and I have never heard any such thing," he said.
