ISLAMABAD, March 14: A glimmer of hope replaced uncertainty and despondency on Saturday when as a result of intense back-channel efforts, another message of extreme concern from the security establishment, and direct mediation by a top US official, compelled President Asif Ali Zardari to extend an olive branch to Nawaz Sharif by agreeing to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the election ban on the Sharif brothers.

The announcement by the president’s spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, came after a flurry of activities in Islamabad, including a meeting between the president and the prime minister, a couple of secret meetings inside the parliament building between a senior cabinet member and some key PML-N members, and pressure by the security establishment for finding a political solution before the law and order situation spirals out of control.

But the real ‘breakthrough’ came after US Secretary of State Hillay Clinton spoke to Nawaz Sharif and President Zardari on phone. Many believe she was not only acting as a mediator but also a guarantor for any political deal. It’s not known what was really offered by Ms Clinton to the two sides, but according to PML-N’s Ishaq Dar even if it came through her efforts, it was a welcome development. Talking to DawnNews, Mr Dar also expressed the hope that such a judicial review would also mean the restoration of pre-court status quo, thus bringing back Shahbaz Sharif as the Punjab chief minister and lifting of governor’s rule.

Earlier in the week, the special US envoy for the region, Richard Hollbroke, and British Foregin Secretary David Milliband had also taken interest in trying to end the confrontation, which many western countries fear may have a negative impact on the fight against Al Qaeda and other religious extremists.

Whether or not it was because of a direct intervention by Hillary Clinton, within hours of her phone calls to President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, the dramatic announcement about the review petition was made.

Official sources said the petition calling for reviewing the apex court’s decision to ban the two Sharif brothers from standing in the elections would be filed sometime next week, possibly on Tuesday --- a day after the lawyers-led Long March is to enter Islamabad for a sit-in.

Top legal experts, including a pro-Sharif laywer Khalid Anwer, told media that such a move may take much longer as the detailed judgement by the Supreme Court has yet to be released, without which it is not possible to ask for a judicial review.

Legal technicalities notwithstanding, most people in Islamabad insist that Saturday evening’s development has suddenly brought down the political temperature in the country. And this happened even when continuing police crackdown against the protesting lawyers resulted in many more arrests in Multan and many other towns and cities.

Raids also continued in many other places, including Islamabad. However, senior lawyer leaders declared that such police brutality was not going to stop them from their mission to march on to Islamabad to press for the immediate restoration of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhy.

Mindful of the lawyers’ determination, the administration in the federal capital and adjoining Rawalpindi city spent their most of the day in confiscating huge trucks and containers, and placing them on all the main entry points to block vehicular movement into Islamabad.

Official sources told Dawn that by Sunday afternoon the sealing off of Islamabad, and even Rawalpindi, will be complete. At the same time the army has also been put on high alert.

However, even when such moves by the police and administration were giving clear signals of intolerance, high-handedness and a sheer overkill, back-channel efforts continued in search of peaceful solution to the crisis.Perhaps the most fascinating of such moves was adviser on interior Rehman Malik’s direct contact with some senior PML-N leaders. During the day he was spotted by a couple of journalists going into opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali’s chamber, where Ahsan Iqbal and Ishaq Dar were already present. After a while Chaudhry Nisar left the place, and was soon followed by Ahsan Iqbal. And after a while Rehman Malik came out with Ishaq Dar and walked up to his own official chamber, where the two leaders held another round of talks.

When confronted by a waiting Dawn News reporter, both of them said they were only discussing mundane parliament-related matters. In fact, Mr Malik also said if the news of their meeting was broadcast, he would deny it.A highly placed source in the government told Dawn that this was the second round of talks between the two sides in two days, which were less about any political deal or package than largely concentrated on the Sharifs’ security during the protest march, and about the possibility of letting the two top PML-N leaders to spearhead the protest up to Islamabad. Earlier in the day rumours had been doing round about the presence of Shahbaz Sharif in the city for a late-night meeting, or a series of meetings. Although Shahbaz Sharif last night indirectly denied coming to the federal capital, a veteran Islamabad journalist Afzal Khan told Dawn that he was on the same late-night flight from Lahore to the federal capital on which the former chief minister had travelled.

Although Rehman Malik once again gave a categorical statement against allowing any of the protesters from entering Islamabad, some of Saturday evening’s developments suggested that there was an outside chance that if the protesters remained peaceful, the government may even allow a Nawaz Sharif led procession to come into the capital. However, a senior official said, the final decision would be taken on Monday, and quite close to the time when the ‘long march’ was supposed to be in Islamabad.

On the other hand, reports coming in from various parts of the country suggested that the government’s popularity has taken a nose dive, particularly after a senseless crackdown against unarmed and peaceful protesters. Most of the lawyers leaders and opposition members squarely blamed President Zardari for the state of affairs, some even declaring that his credibility was now beyond repair. Lawyers’ leaders like Aitzaz Ahsan and Ali Ahmed Kurd seemed determined that come what may, they would take the ‘long march’ to Islamabad as there was still no sign of government’s agreeing to their main demand for the restoration of deposed judges.

So, even when the back-channel efforts and a government announcement may have brought down the temperature, many observers said, chances of a showdown between the protesters and administration in and around Islamabad looked real.

However, sources said President Zaradi was still taking a very strong position against the restoration of judges or even against the removal of the Punjab governor. Mr Zardari’s refusal to soften his stance was creating serious problems in the search of a peaceful settlement of the dispute, observes said.

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