In an apparent reaction to the recent criticism by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharief of President Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan government has ordered his brother Shahbaz Sharief's wife and daughters to leave the country and join the exiled family in Jeddah.

"They will be sent today," Pakistan Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said reacting to reports of police laying siege to the residence of Sharief's relatives in Lahore to find Nusrat and daughters Rabia and Jaweria.

Hayat told private Geo TV that Sharief and his family had accepted a deal with the military regime in 2000 and left for Jeddah and they would not be allowed to return and take part in politics.

He said Shahbaz's wife and daughters were allowed to return because the family wanted the daughters to get married. They had asked for two months in this regard.

"Now it is over three months. There is no sign of marriage," he said.

In a recent interview the former prime minister had castigated Musharraf for scuttling the Lahore peace process and held him responsible for the Kargil conflict.

Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had 'reversed' an order to 'deport' the family on Friday, The Nation, an influential daily, reported.

Jamali even phoned Shahbaz's son Mian Hamza on Friday to assure him that his family members would not be forced to leave.

But his orders were superseded following direct orders from Washington, where Musharraf is on a visit, the daily said.