Pak AG likely to hold talks with Bhutto in Dubai

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Attorney General Malik Qayyum has travelled to Dubai where he is expected to hold talks with former premier Benazir Bhutto on contention issues raised by her in connection with holding free and fair polls.

Qayyum, a close confidant of President Pervez Musharraf, flew to Dubai late last night, two days after Bhutto traveled to the United Arab Emirates to meet her family there.

The former judge may meet Bhutto, who has voiced fears that the Jan 8 elections may be rigged, to 'thrash out complaints being aired by the Pakistan People's Party leader with regard to the polls', The News quoted sources as saying on Monday.

Qayyum held 'important discussions' with Musharraf and Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, the senior advisor to the Prime Minister on law, before his departure.

Qayyum is also expected to hold meetings with Pakistani jurists and 'noted personalities from the West' in Dubai.      

The attorney general is expected to return to Pakistan by Tuesday evening.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party had earlier said that the former premier has ended all contacts with the government through 'backdoor channels' until the elections.     

"At present, no backdoor channel is active and it is our decision not to engage in such an exercise," said PPP leader Rehman Malik, involved in the talks with the government that facilitated her return in October from eight years in self-exile.