ISLAMABAD Sept 6: A top level meeting held at the President’s House on Thursday decided that President Pervez Musharraf would seek re-election in uniform, between Sept 15 and Oct 15.

The meeting, chaired by President Pervez Musharraf, was attended by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president’s top confidant Tariq Aziz, president’s chief of staff Gen Javed Hamid, Attorney-General Justice (retd) Malik Abdul Qayyum and representatives of some agencies. It lasted well over six hours, a knowledgeable source told Dawn.

The meeting also ended speculations about early dissolution of assemblies and decided that the matter would be discussed after the president’s re-election.

The attorney-general briefed the meeting in detail on the constitutional position of president’s re-election and highlighted some aspects of the legal battle being fought in the Supreme Court.

The meeting was informed that the schedule for the presidential election was expected to be announced by the Election Commission by Sept 15.

On the issue of Nawaz Sharif’s return, the source said, the unanimous opinion of the leaders was that after the Saudi authorities’ warning the former prime minister would “not dare to return and probably will cancel his plan”.

It was said that the former prime minister would not antagonise a brotherly country, which had good relations with Pakistan.

The meeting discussed the writ petition filed by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Jamaat-i-Islami’s chief, in the apex court and decided that the government would contest the case with adequate preparation.

The meeting also discussed the ongoing talks with Benazir Bhutto, in the light of the recently-concluded round in Dubai.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who had met an aggressive group of the party’s old guards in the morning, informed the president that the party members considered that a deal would give an upper hand to the PPP.