London: With the PPP and the PML-N expected to form a coalition government in Pakistan, Britain and the US are apparently putting huge "pressure" on the two parties not to remove President Pervez Musharraf or try to impeach him.

Senior figures in the PPP and PML (N) told The Times daily that British and US officials had urged them not to try to impeach Musharraf or reinstate the deposed chief Justice who would be sure to invalidate the President's re-election last year.

The allegations were levelled after British and US envoys met several party leaders following the Feb 18 elections.

"There is huge pressure from America to work with Musharraf, but we'll do whatever we feel is right," a senior PPP leader was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

A senior aide to Sharif said, "The British and the Americans are working together on this. They don't understand that it's time for Musharraf to go."

Robert Brinkley, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, held talks on Thursday with Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir Bhutto's widower and successor as head of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which won the most seats.

On Friday, Brinkely met Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister whose Pakistan Muslim League (N) won the second-highest number of seats.

Anne Patterson, the US Ambassador, met Zardari on Wednesday and Friday, and held further talks on Friday with the head of the Awami National Party, another potential coalition partner.
Source : PTI