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‘Meet will have far-reaching consequences’

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan People’s Party spokesman here denied all knowledge of a reported meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto in Abu Dhabi on Friday, and there was no official confirmation of it either.

According to local television reports, the two held a 55-minute meeting in Abu Dhabi to discuss the political situation in Pakistan, including President Musharraf’s re-election.

Ms. Bhutto’s spokesman Farahtullah Babar said he was not aware of a meeting between the two.

“I spoke to her in London on Thursday, and there is no postponement of an important party meeting that she is scheduled to hold tomorrow, in London, to discuss the award of party tickets for elections,” Mr. Babar told The Hindu.

No official was willing to confirm that the President held a meeting with Ms. Bhutto. An official release said the President was travelling on July 27 and 28 to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra, and also mentioned his visit to the United Arab Kingdom, but did not state the purpose.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Geo TV that “if such a meeting [between President Musharraf and Ms. Bhutto] has taken place, it is very important, and will have far-reaching consequences for the political situation in the country”.

Talk of a deal between President Musharraf and Ms. Bhutto has been around for many months, and the PPP leader admitted several times that she was in touch with the regime.

But she told the British Sunday Times this week that the “logic of the deal” with President Musharraf did not exist after the Supreme Court judgement reinstating Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary. She said any understandi ng with him now would have unfavourable consequences for her party as he had become very “unpopular”. Ms. Bhutto also said she would move the courts to help her return to Pakistan as early as possible.

However, the embattled President Musharraf, fighting for his political survival, needs to reach out to opponents more than ever, and it is believed that he may now be willing to meet Ms. Bhutto’s terms for a “deal”.

Earlier contacts between the two sides were reportedly stuck on the PPP’s opposition to President Musharraf’s re-election in uniform.

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