ISLAMABAD, May 25: The leader of Opposition in the National Assembly and secretary general Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) Maulana Fazlur Rahman, is expected to arrive in the federal capital on Thursday to meet US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca.

When contacted for confirmation, Maulana Fazl, who is in D.I. Khan campaigning for the MMA candidate in a by-election, said: “Yes, I will try to be in Islamabad tomorrow (Thursday)”.

He, however, said: “I have already expressed my desire for an exclusive meeting with the US official, instead of meeting her along with other MPs.”

His aide Abdus Sattar told Dawn that no response to the Maulana’s request for a separate meeting had yet been received and it was difficult to say if he would meet her at all.

Earlier on Tuesday the Maulana had told a private television channel that he would come to Islamabad only if an exclusive meeting was arranged.

He wanted the meeting to be held in his parliament house chamber so that he could brief Ms Rocca on the political situation in Pakistan and in the region.

Observers here see Maulana Fazl’s reluctance to meet the US official against the backdrop Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s call for an international protest day on May 27 against the desecration of Holy Quran by US guards in the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

He has said in his recent interviews that since MMA’s point of view on various international issues was different from that of the government and also of some other political parties he would not feel at ease in meeting the US official in the presence of parliamentarians belonging to other parties.