Musharraf’s ‘friend’ active

LAHORE: A “close friend” of President General Pervez Musharraf has prepared a “formula” to encourage cooperation between the government and opposition, sources told Daily Times on Monday. The sources refused to name the friend, who is a wealthy businessman, but said he also has close ties with MMA leaders and is in touch with the Sharif family in Jeddah. He is apparently acting as a “bridge” between the government and opposition and the LFO talks were his idea. According to the “formula”, the opposition parties will not start public agitation and a next phase of talks will soon be announced. It says that the issues on which the opposition and government agree would be presented before parliament and the remaining points would be discussed in the next round of talks. On Musharraf as COAS, the formula suggests the opposition give him an “appropriate” timeframe in which to announce when he will step out of uniform. “If the opposition parties agree to this, the government would consider some of their demands, which have no link with the LFO issue,” one source said. The sources said “important” MMA and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have assured the president’s friend of their support, but did not say under what conditions. MMA leader Liaqat Baloch told Daily Times a businessman was active in the talks on the LFO, but had not discussed any formula with him. —Amir Rana

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