PAKISTAN: Bhutto welcomes possibility of Musharraf visiting Nawaz Sharif in Saudi Arabia.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says she welcomed the apparent relaxing of the emergency and says her party has yet to decide whether to participate in January's elections. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto met Tuesday (November 20) with colleagues of her People's Party in Karachi and said the party would announce its decision on whether to participate in the country's delayed elections in the next day or two. The meeting came as Pakistan freed thousands of lawyers and opposition activists on Tuesday who had been held under emergency powers and as President Pervez Musharraf met leaders in Saudi Arabia, where his old foe Nawaz Sharif lives in exile. Musharraf, increasingly isolated at home, flew to Saudi Arabia leaving a trail of speculation that he would reach out to Sharif, the Prime Minister he deposed in a 1999 coup, who is now living in exile in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Speaking at a news conference, Bhutto said her party would welcome any talks between Musharraf and Sharif. "If General Musharraf is in Saudi Arabia to meet Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan People's Party will welcome that," Bhutto said. The sudden visit raised speculation that Musharraf could court Sharif as prospects for a post-election power-sharing deal with Bhutto have receded. Sharif told Reuters from Jeddah on Monday (November 19) that he would not meet Musharraf unless the emergency was rolled back. He said he had rebuffed several overtures to meet since September. General Musharraf has been under pressure from the opposition and Western governments to revoke the emergency rule he imposed on November 3 and ensure elections in January are fair.

ITN Source | November 21, 2007

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