The Hindu : Benazir, Sharif did not meet: PPP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 07, 2002

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International

Benazir, Sharif did not meet: PPP

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD JULY 6.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) today categorically denied reports in a section of the press that former Prime Ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, met in Jeddah earlier this week.

``It is figment of imagination of a section of the media. No such meeting took place'', Wasif Syed, PPP Media Coordinator, told The Hindu here.

He was reacting to reports in two prominent Pakistan English dailies about the meeting between the two where they reportedly chalked out a joint political strategy to oust the military regime. Senior functionaries of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) at the same time do not rule out the possibility of a "coordinated approach" between the two parties on the promised general elections in October.

``After all, both the PPP and PML are part of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) which has been united in its opposition to several of the initiatives of the Musharraf Government in recent months'', the functionaries said.

Speculations of a meeting arose as the PPP chairperson flew to Jeddah along with her children.

Mr. Sharif, who has been exiled by Gen. Musharraf, lives in Jeddah.

In another development, the Musharraf Government has said that Asif Zardari, the jailed husband of Ms. Bhutto, would not be affected by the Political Parties Act that prescribes new qualifications to be eligible to contest elections.

The Prosecutor-General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Raja Muhammad Bashir, said that Mr. Zardari, imprisoned for the past six years, was till date eligible to contest as "no verdict in any of the references against him has so far been announced."

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