ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani newspapers Tuesday criticised President Pervez Musharraf for deporting former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, warning the move would push the South Asian nation further towards chaos.

Sharif, ousted by military ruler Musharraf in 1999, was sent back into exile in Saudi Arabia Monday, four hours after what was supposed to be a triumphal return to his homeland.

"Nothing worse can possibly happen to Pakistan (than) what General Musharraf-led military regime did on Monday," said a comment piece in The News, a respected English-language daily.

An editorial in the same paper headlined "An act of utter desperation" said the treatment of Sharif as "virtually a convicted felon not deserving of even a return to his own country" would increase his popularity at home.

It also warned the country faced "turbulent times in the next few days and weeks".

Dawn, Pakistan's oldest English-language newspaper, said in an editorial both the government and Sharif himself had shown an "utter disregard" for prior agreements on his exile in Saudi Arabia.

But it added that the "heavens would not have fallen if Nawaz Sharif had been allowed to return and taken to court for his alleged malfeasance".

Upon his arrival Sharif was presented with warrants for his arrest on corruption charges stemming from his terms as premier from 1990-1993 and 1996-1999.

Newspapers also focused on an expected confrontation between the government and Pakistan's Supreme Court, which is already at loggerheads with Musharraf over his botched attempt in March to sack its chief justice.

They pointed out that when the court ruled in August that Sharif could return to Pakistan, it ordered that the authorities should not hinder him in any way.

The Nation -- which headlined its main story on Sharif "Go Away" -- said in an editorial that the government "may have heaved a sigh of relief" by sending Sharif back into exile.

But it warned that "General Musharraf and his self-seeking supporters ... should not forget that this practice of handling political matters through the coercive arm of police and administration will further push the country towards chaos".