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Pakistani officials said the US diplomats (above) would meet former premier Nawaz Sharif and officials from the Pakistan People's Party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, as well as government figures. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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ISLAMABAD - TWO top US diplomats flew into Pakistan on Tuesday for talks with senior officials and politicians, officials said, as an opponent of President Pervez Musharraf was due to be sworn in as premier.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher arrived in the early hours on the latest in a series of trips to the frontline state in the 'war on terror'.
'They arrived this morning. This is part of an ongoing series of visits to Pakistan - they will meet with a wide variety of people,' US embassy spokesman Kay Mayfield said.
The spokesman would not confirm whether Mr Negroponte and Mr Boucher would meet Mr Musharraf or other senior officials, although they have done so on several visits in the past.
But Pakistani officials said the US diplomats would meet former premier Nawaz Sharif and officials from the Pakistan People's Party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, as well as government figures.
The PPP and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party formed a coalition after their parties trounced Mr Musharraf's allies in elections in February.
'The two US officials are due to meet Nawaz Sharif for talks in Islamabad,' PML-N spokesman Siddique-ul Farooq said.
It was not clear if the US diplomats would meet Mr Musharraf or Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, a key aide to Bhutto who was elected as prime minister by parliament on Monday.
Mr Musharraf was due on Tuesday to swear in Mr Gilani in a ceremony at the presidential palace.
The arrival of the US officials comes with Mr Musharraf's position at its most fragile since he grabbed power in the nuclear-armed nation in a military coup in 1999.
Mr Gilani issued a challenge to Mr Musharraf within minutes of winning the parliamentary vote by ordering the release of judges detained by the president under a state of emergency in November.
Mr Musharraf, who quit as army chief last year, sacked the chief justice and around 60 other judges amid fears that they were about to overturn his victory in a presidential election last October.
The new coalition government has pledged to reinstate the judiciary, after which the judges could then rule his re-election as president illegal. -- AFP
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