August 15, 2007	Wednesday	Sha’aban 1, 1428

NEW YORK, Aug 14: The chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party, Benazir Bhutto, has convened a special meeting of PPP leaders in New York to chalk out the party’s course of action following reports that President Gen Pervez Musharraf would seek election for a second term under a `deal’ recently worked out with her.

The reports gained credence on Tuesday following statements by ministers and officials who asserted that `details of an agreement’ would be made public soon.

The PPP leaders who arrived in New York on Tuesday are: Makhdoom Amin Fahim, president of the party, Raja Pervez Ashraf, secretary-general, and Farhatullah Babar, the party’s spokesman.

Amir Wasim adds from Islamabad: A senior leader told Dawn that the PPP’s central executive committee would meet in London on Aug 28 and 29.

Senior leaders of the party were perturbed by reports of

Ms Bhutto’s meeting with President Pervez Musharraf in Abu Dhabi.

Although the PPP has yet to confirm or deny the meeting, a number of ministers have been insisting that a meeting did take place. Federal Minister for Communications Shamim Siddiqi told journalists in Karachi recently that Gen Musharraf had informed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement that he had met Ms Bhutto in the UAE.

Sources in the PPP told Dawn on Tuesday that Senator Enver Baig, a senior leader of the party, had held meetings with diplomats from the European Union, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and a number of other countries over the past few days to take them into confidence about the “party’s viewpoint on the presidential and general election”.