Islamabad: Former Pakistan Premier Benazir Bhutto today (Dec 6, 2003) urged President Pervez Musharraf to permit her to return to the country to meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Summit, amid reports that the country's beleaguered Opposition planned to step up agitation against Musharraf during next month's meet.

"The Indian Prime Minister had said that he was willing to talk to 'everybody' during his visit to Islamabad. This was widely interpreted to mean that he would have meetings with both General Musharaf, who actually wields all power, and Jamali who is the ceremonial figure in the attempt to give 'Democratic' facade to General Musharaf's rule," Bhutto, now living in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai, said in a statement.

Hoping that the meetings to be held on the sidelines of the January summit would have a positive bearing on stability in South Asia, Bhutto said she along with exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should be permitted to return to meet Vajpayee in the wider interest of Pakistan.

Sharif was exiled to Saudi Arabia after Musharraf assumed power in 1999 in a bloodless coup.

Bhutto said she and Sharif has taken part in many initiatives concerning Indo-Pak relations and therefore it was "logical" that they too meet Vajpayee in Islamabad.

Her statement follows speculation that the 15-party Opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), along with the Islamic alliance Muthahida Majlis Amal (MMA), planned to step up its agitation during the SAARC summit to be held from January 4 to 6 in Islamabad.

PTI