Exiled former President Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan was heading towards anarchy and described President Pervez Musharraf's decision to invoke emergency powers as a form of martial law.
"We are heading towards a chaotic situation, heading towards anarchy," Sharif told Indian news channel CNN-IBN in an interview replayed by Dawn Television in Pakistan.
General Musharraf deposed Sharif in a 1999 coup and subsequently exiled him.
Mr Sharif tried to return to Pakistan, with the Supreme Court's blessing, but was put on a plane to Saudi Arabia, where he still is.
