Musharraf Leaves Home to Mend Fences

Sudden trip to Saudi Arabia likely attempt to forge deal with old foe
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 20, 2007 3:50 PM CST
Musharraf Leaves Home to Mend Fences
Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, right, is greeted by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal upon his arrival at Riyadh airport, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. Musharraf has been under immense pressure from Washington to free opposition leaders, end media restrictions and step...   (Associated Press)

Pervez Musharraf traveled to Saudi Arabia today, and the desperate Pakistani president may attempt to broker a power-sharing deal with the PM he ousted in a 1999 coup, Reuters reports. Nawaz Sharif has said he will not meet with Musharraf while emergency rule is in effect, but Musharraf relaxed the edict last night by releasing 3,400 prisoners.

Now that a deal with Benazir Bhutto appears unlikely, "Musharraf is in big trouble, and I don't think Sharif will agree to support him," says a Karachi restaurant owner. But some say Musharraf is instead trying to ensure Sharif stays in Saudi Arabia. "The last thing he wants is Sharif coming back in this highly charged environment," says a journalist. (More Pervez Musharraf stories.)

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