A day after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denied that his government had anything to do with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a team of British officers arrived in Pakistan to help with the investigation of the politician’s horrific and violent death.

“The Scotland Yard team, who refused to talk to reporters after arriving at Islamabad Airport, is stepping into the cauldron of Pakistani politics,” the Spiegel reports.

Musharraf admitted yesterday that the government shouldn’t have said anything about Bhutto’s death, until they were 100% about what caused it and who were behind it. “One should not give a statement that’s 100 percent final. That’s the flaw that we suffer from,” he said.

While these Scotland Yard investigators will try to find out what exactly happened to Bhutto and who’s behind it, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is eyeing a comeback. “Pakistan is in a very serious situation. I’m here to do what I can,” he told reporters yesterday. “But the country doesn’t need a one-man show. Pakistan has become a laughingstock. We need General Musharraf to step down. We need a return to the judges, a return to rule of law, a return to democracy.”

That is, of course, not going to happen. I for one can’t imagine Musharraf standing down any time soon. Why would he? His possible successor wouldn’t be able to bring more stability to Pakistan than he can.

When Bhutto returned to Pakistan she instantly became the leader of the opposition. Now that she’s dead Pakistanis aren’t turning to her successors (her husband and son) but to Sharif. “Newspaper commentators have lately taken to calling Sharif ‘Nawaz Light,’ and political pundits say he is playing his cards right. Once an establishment figure, he now condemns President Pervez Musharraf as a military dictator. And although he was once a bitter enemy of Bhutto’s, he has made a series of well-calculated moves to appeal to her loyalists,” the WaPo reports.

Sharif is a product of the military and, beyond all else, quite religious. He appeals to Pakistan’s observant Muslim population. Not only by them, though, he’s also liked by quite some nationalists who consider him a hero because he brought their country the nuclear bomb.

Musharraf and Sharif have a history: when the latter was PM he appointed Musharraf as army chief. Ironically, he was overthrown shortly afterwards by the military and he was replaced by the man who thanked his military position to him. ” Musharraf and Sharif have remained bitter enemies since then. In September, Sharif tried to return to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia, where he had been avoiding jail time under a deal he struck with Musharraf to have a criminal conviction set aside. He spent a few hours at the Islamabad airport before Musharraf deported him again.”

It’s time for the West to start worrying about a possible Sharif-comeback. The reason is that he “retains close ties to Islamic extremists.” At least, that’s what the Bush administration says, and most people think they’re right.

Not only that, another major problem is that Musharraf and Sharif are true enemies. I don’t see how these two men can work together. They hate each other’s guts. They don’t trust each other, they don’t agree with each other, they hate each other. That’s not a good foundation to unite the country. Musharraf is quite a secularist, while Sharif is religiously minded.

That spells trouble.

Instead of reaching out to Musharraf Sharif chooses to fight him.

If this continues, and if increasingly more Pakistanis support Sharif Pakistan will be even less stable than it already is. Bhutto and Musharraf were enemies, but there was some chance that they could work together for the sake of the country. With Sharif and Musharraf that’s not the case.

A dangerous situation.