Maulana Fazl claims major breakthrough in negotiations

Pakistan, LAHORE Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) leader Fazlur Rehman on Friday claimed that a major breakthrough in the efforts to bring about a compromise between President Asif Ali Zardari and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership had been achieved. The Sharifs are protesting their disqualification and imposition of governor’s rule in Punjab and are pressing for the restoration of judiciary. 'The two sides have reached an agreement on fundamental issues – though modalities of settling them are yet to be decided – that triggered the current political crisis in the country in the wake of disqualification by the Supreme Court of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif,” he told reporters after a three-hour meeting with the PML-N leadership at the Sharif’s Raiwind estate. He refused to divulge the details of the issues on which the two sides are said to have reached an agreement, saying he was not in a position to make public the fine points of mediation. He said he would meet the president on Saturday for further discussion in the light of Friday’s talks.