Zardari resisted US, Musharraf pressure to ally with PML(Q)

Asif Ali Zardari is said to have rejected a suggestion from Washington that he establish a political alliance with the PML-Q and other pro-Musharraf forces.

Islamabad, Feb.22 : Asif Ali Zardari is said to have rejected a suggestion from Washington that he establish a political alliance with the PML-Q and other pro-Musharraf forces.

According to The News, background interviews reveal that Zardari was offered governments at the Centre and in at least three of the four provinces if he distanced himself from the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League (N).

However, he told those who approached him that he did not consider the Q-League a political entity.

Despite reservations of some of the PPP leaders from the Punjab against the N-League in the central executive committee of the party that met here in Islamabad on Wednesday, Zardari endorsed the idea of making a coalition government with the political parties like the PML-N, ANP, etc.

lthough, Zardari did not talk of Washington's pressures, sources in the party confirmed that the Americans had brought tremendous pressure on the PPP co-chairperson to make a coalition government with the likes of the PML-Q and MQM but not with the PML-N.

At the heart of the deal making is the issue of restoring sacked judges, a move demanded by Sharif.

ANI