October 31, 2002	Thursday	Sha’aban 24,1423

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WASHINGTON, Oct 30: The military government and PPP came close to clinching a deal over the future political setup in the country last week but the talks ended abruptly when the government refused to withdraw corruption charges against the party leader, Benazir Bhutto.

PPP sources in Washington told Dawn that since the Oct 10 parliamentary elections, the party’s parliamentary leader Makhdoum Amin Fahim has held several rounds of talks with President Pervez Musharraf and his senior aides.

Last week, President Musharraf met Fahim at the picturesque Damn-i-koh restaurant overlooking Islamabad but Musharraf’s aides said later that it was an “accidental meeting” because both the leaders happened to be at the restaurant at the same time.

But Ms Bhutto told reporters in Washington earlier this week that the meeting was “not as accidental as the government says”. She, however, refused to elaborate further.

PPP sources say that during the talks President Musharraf told Fahim that it would be good for the country if PPP were included in the future government. He also indicated that the military would accept Fahim as prime minister if he hammers out a deal with other parties in the parliament.

Asked to comment on these reports, Ms Bhutto said: “There’s one thing common between Musharraf and me. We both like Makhdoum Amin Fahim.”

PPP sources said later that the talks between the government and the party failed to produce any results because the government refused to withdraw corruption charges against Ms Bhutto.

The government argues that since most of these charges were framed by the Sharif government and she has already been convicted by court, it would be inappropriate for them to undo the conviction and withdraw the charges.

PPP, however, insists that the government withdraw all such cases before it enters into a deal with the party. It also is seeking an assurance that Ms Bhutto will not be arrested if and when she returns to Pakistan.

The government, however, is believed to have informed the PPP that Ms Bhutto will have to file an appeal if she wants to return home.

Instead of asking the government to withdraw the cases, senior military officials advised the PPP leaders to go to the court to seek a pardon.

But such a condition is not acceptable to Ms Bhutto, the sources said. Meanwhile, Ms Bhutto completed a round of talks with the US officials in Washington and has now gone to California where she is scheduled to address several seminars.