LAHORE, Aug 8: Both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto have assured the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy chief Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan of their continued cooperation for the restoration of democracy, the Nawabzada told a press conference here on Thursday.

He said the two leaders had been talking to him by telephone, assuring him of their unending support for the ARD’s charter of demands.

He told a questioner he had not discussed the issue of their return in the conversations.

Asked if he believed the October polls would be postponed, he said he could predict no such thing. As far as Gen Pervez Musharraf was concerned, he had backed out of his promises many times. He said the Pakistan Muslim League could not afford to sever its contacts with the Pakistan People’s Party.

Earlier, Jamiat Ahle Hadith Pakistan leaders announced that they would work under the leadership of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan in the political field. They said JAH nominees could contest the October polls from the platform of the Pakistan Democratic Party.

JAH president Maulana Riazur Rahman Yazdani said, however, in the religious field his party would keep its identity intact.