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Perv flies to Olympics despite coup talks
"The president is going to China," a presidential aide told AFP. A senior foreign ministry official also confirmed that Musharraf had changed his plans and said he would fly out on Thursday. Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq had earlier said that Musharraf "will not be able to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing," adding that he could not give the reasons. The News, an English language daily, had reported that Sharif and Zardari called the talks amid fears that Musharraf himself might strike the first blow by dissolving parliament. The pair had agreed formally to ask Musharraf to quit and then impeach him through parliament if he refused, said Dawn, another leading newspaper. Sharif and Zardari met for a second time on Wednesday, and Sharif's Pakistan Asif Zardari conceded his conditional agreement to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif during a "make-or-break" meeting that was meant to resolve contentious issues between the two coalition partners, including the sacked judges' reinstatement and the impeachment of the president. Sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times that the agreement came about after senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif assured Zardari that the coalition partners had sufficient strength to impeach President Musharraf if the PPP took the initiative. "Both parties agreed that the issue of reinstating the sacked judges could easily be resolved once they succeeded in getting rid of President Musharraf," the sources added. Khawaja Asif told Geo News that all parties in the ruling alliance would prepare a charge sheet against Musharraf and have an open debate on it. He said the president would be allowed to defend himself, adding that evidence was being gathered for the charge sheet. Posted by: Steve White 2008-08-07 |
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