ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: Fresh efforts have been launched to bring about a rapprochement with Pir Pagara, the estranged chief of the defunct PML-F, to save the Sindh government from a possible collapse, sources told Dawn on Wednesday.

They said that President Pervez Musharraf had telephoned the Pir and called him to Islamabad for talks. According to the sources, Pir Pagara has agreed to visit the federal capital and meet General Musharraf to set his terms for a settlement after August 18, the day by-elections for two National Assembly seats are due to be held.

Some party leaders, who have a soft corner for Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, have also initiated their efforts to woo the Pir back by offering apologies for the disputed steps taken by the party president in Sindh which had angered the spiritual leader. One such step was the nomination of Imtiaz Sheikh as party secretary-general while his (Pir Pagara's) son was ignored.

A party source expressed the hope that Pir Pagara will finally yield to the persuasions of President Musharraf and accept Chaudhry Shujaat as party chief for the time being against some assurances.

Inside sources claimed that Pir Pagara, who had refused to meet Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim the other day till Mr Shujaat headed the party, is most likely to demand that the latter be replaced with Shaukat Aziz.

It is said that the Pir had agreed to a unification plan on the persuasion of ex-PM Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and then on a personal request of President Musharraf. He had even demanded that the president either take the party leadership himself or appoint Mr Jamali as the party head.

However, it was Mr Jamali who had prevailed upon the Pir and brought him into the party fold. Inside sources have expressed the fear that Pir Pagara may even ditch Dr Arbab Rahim's government by withdrawing support of 13 MPAs of his party.

On being denied an audience with the Pir last week, the Sindh CM contacted former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and requested him to prevail upon the Hur leader so that his government could be saved.