Musharraf fears ouster, scraps Beijing trip

Islamabad: President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday abruptly cancelled his scheduled visit to China to participate in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in the wake of reports that Pakistan's ruling coalition could be finalising a move to impeach him.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told reporters that Musharraf, who was due to fly to Beijing on Wednesday, had called off his visit, a day after sparring coalition allies Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif's PML (N) had crucial talks to discuss his fate.

Officials, however, did not give any reason for the decision.

Other sources, however, said Musharraf cancelled his visit after the top leaders of the PPP-led coalition agreed in principle to impeach the President.

Musharraf has also called a meeting of his close constitutional and legal advisors at his camp office in Rawalpindi to discuss a strategy to counter any possible move to impeach him, the sources said.

The sources further said the decision to explore ways to impeach Musharraf was taken during a marathon meeting on Wednesday between PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.

Both parties have been tight-lipped about the meeting and did not issue any statement on the talks.

Leaders of both parties merely said they had reached consensus on several key issues and a final decision would be taken after consulting the other allies of the coalition, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Awami National Party and parliamentarians from the tribal areas.

Though the top leaders of the PPP and PML-N were earlier scheduled to meet here today at 11.30 am, the meeting has now been deferred till 2 PM. The PPP and PML-N also held hectic consultations with leaders of the other parties in the coalition last night.

Musharraf, a US ally who came to power as a general in a 1999 coup, has become overwhelmingly unpopular. His allies were defeated in an election in February that resulted in a civilian coalition government led by the party of the late Benazir Bhutto, a two-time prime minister who was assassinated while campaigning last December.

Despite the loss of parliamentary support, Musharraf has been resisting pressure to quit, and insisted that he was willing to work with the new civilian government.