The fate of Pakistan’s embattled leaders, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, could be decided when the Supreme Court takes up the “Memogate” scandal and high-profile corruption cases on Monday, as the beleaguered government sought Parliament’s support amid signals that the Army would rally behind the court.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday tried to make peace with powerful Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in two separate meetings here.

Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Saturday met President Asif Ali Zardari triggering speculation that moves could be made to resolve the tense stand-off between the government and the powerful military.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said he would not seek a vote of confidence from parliament against the backdrop of an escalating row with the judiciary and military as his government did not want any clash between state institutions.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday departed on a one-day private visit to Dubai amidst a standoff between the civilian government and the powerful military on the memo scandal.

The powerful Pakistan Army on Wednesday asked the weak civilian government led by Yousaf Raza Gilani of the Pakistan People’s Party to “shut its mouth” or face “grievous consequences”.

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today sacked defence secretary Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Naeem Lodhi, considered close to the army chief, marking an escalation in the row between the civilian government and the military over the memogate scandal.

Pakistani authorities have cleared the import of 16 vegetables and raw jute from India through the Wagah land border in order to bring down prices in the domestic market and added 18 more items to the list of goods that can be imported from the neighbouring country.

Pakistan on Thursday said it will take steps to maintain the credibility of its nuclear deterrence following India’s decision to acquire a Russian nuclear attack submarine on a 10-year lease. “We are looking at these developments very closely. Rest assured, there will be no compromise in terms of maintaining the credibility of our deterrence,” foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said during a weekly news briefing.

The sixth round of India-Pakistan expert-level talks on nuclear confidence-building measures (CBMs) ended on Tuesday without any major breakthrough, officials said.
“The talks were positive but there were no results. The positive thing is that they have agreed to continue talks,” an official at the foreign ministry told this newspaper.