Former Pakistani rivals meet, vow to end dictatorship
From Syed Mohsin Naqvi
CNN
(CNN) -- Two former Pakistani prime ministers and rivals, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, met in Saudi Arabia and agreed to work to end dictatorship in Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League sources told CNN.
The first-ever meeting between the two former premiers was held Thursday at Sharif's Jeddah residence and lasted for more than 2 1/2 hours.
Bhutto, who lives in self-exile in Dubai, met Sharif in his exile in Jeddah. Accompanying Bhutto was her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who was recently released after spending eight years in a prison in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, Bhutto and Sharif are running a joint opposition against the current president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, but this was the first time that they met to discuss a joint strategy to regain their political base back home.
After the meeting, Sharif hosted a luncheon in honor of the former first couple which was also attended by members of the Sharif family, including Begum Kulsoom Nawaz. Bhutto and Asif Zardari are in Saudi Arabia to perform umrah, or minor pilgrimage to Mecca.
Pakistan Muslim League leader Pervaiz Malik, who is a close friend, member of the parliament and spokesman for Sharif, termed the meeting a historic occasion.
"Today is a historic day in the democratic history of Pakistan as two leaders have agreed on a new charter of democracy and that both the political parties have to start a new era of political cooperation after forgetting the bitterness of the past," he said.
He said the two leaders have reached a written agreement for waging a joint struggle against the current military regime.
Sharif's government was overthrown by Musharraf in a bloodless military coup in October 1999. Sharif was sent to Saudi Arabia the next year.
After 11 years of President Muhammad Zia's rule, from 1977 to 1988, Bhutto and Sharif both served as prime ministers twice before the coup.
