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Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf continued consultations with top aides yesterday after opposition mounted from his allies to a planned deal with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that would see him quit as army chief.
General Musharraf, who is fighting for his political life, and advisers also discussed how to deal with the proposed return of another former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from exile on September 10.
A political source told Gulf News yesterday that Musharraf was trying to "thrash out differences with the ruling party leadership, which opposes an amendment that may pave the way for Benazir or Sharif to hold the prime minister's office for the third term.
"President Musharraf may visit Abu Dhabi in the next few days for a final round of talks with Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP] chairperson Benazir Bhutto," the source said.
"This will be a make-or-break meeting between the two leaders, which will take place after hectic consultations with respective parties and detailed parleys between Bhutto and Musharraf's aides," the source claimed.
It is learnt that National Assembly Speaker Amir Hussain was "under instructions" to remain in Islamabad since he could be asked any time to assume responsibilities as acting president in the absence of Senate chairman Muhammadmian Soomro from Pakistan in case President Musharraf decides to leave for Abu Dhabi. Soomro is currently in London.
Under pressure
The source said that Gen Musharraf could leave for Abu Dhabi to meet Benazir at short notice after getting a go ahead from his emissaries in London.
"Both leaders have made up their minds about the extent to which they can accommodate each other's demands and will be making last-ditch efforts to secure a deal," the source said.
Benazir had earlier set August 31 as a cut-off date for Musharraf to respond to her demands. She is under pressure from her party to announce her return after PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif decided to return on September 10.
"If Musharraf does not agree to our proposals, we will have to go our separate ways. Our struggle for democracy will continue," PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said while talking to Geo news channel yesterday.
Meanwhile, talks of a deal with Benazir is causing alarm in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, which has backed Musharraf since the last general elections in 2002.
Reconciliation
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met party leader Shujaat Hussain and some key ministers yesterday and discussed the issue in detail. Aziz told them that Pakistan "needs national and political reconciliation and as such we are engaged in the process of dialogue" with different political parties to create an atmosphere of harmony.
Musharraf has also decided to contact the King of Saudi Arabia over the decision of Sharif and brother Shahbaz to return to Pakistan by September 10, which is said to be contrary to the agreement brokered by a high profile personality. Musharraf decided this after holding talks with top aides to weigh his shrinking options after Sharif vowed to return from exile to block his re-election plans.
PML-N sources told Gulf News that there is a lot of pressure from the PML-N local leadership and workers too on the Sharif brothers to come back on the announced date.
"Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, parliamentary leader of the party, Nisar Ali Khan and others made it clear to the party high-ups that it is a historic moment and both have to come back now," the source added.
According to official sources, the government has directed the authorities of jails in Adiala, Rawalpindi, Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, and Karachi to clean up solitary confinement cells.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, founder of PPP and former prime minister, spent imprisonment in the same cells in Kot Lakhpat and Adiala jails before being hanged by the then military ruler Zia-ul-Haq.
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