ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: The US ambassador to Pakistan met Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday, the embassy said, in the latest in a series of encounters with the country’s opposition leaders.

Anne Patterson met Maulana Fazl, embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton said.

Patterson’s meeting with Maulana Fazl, who has previously voiced support for Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, came a day after she held talks with opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Patterson and Maulana Fazl discussed a range of issues, including “the importance of having free and fair elections”, Colton told AFP.

“She also discussed importance of lifting the state of emergency,” Colton said, adding that “it was a good meeting”. It was the US envoy’s second meeting with Maulana Fazl, Colton said. The first was before the imposition of emergency rule on Nov 3.

The ambassador is expected to meet other political leaders in coming days, she added.

Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq announced on Tuesday that general elections would be held on Jan 8 despite threats of a boycott by some opposition parties.

Reports here say neither Bhutto nor Rehman favour a boycott, while former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad, do.—AFP