PPP deny claims of deal between party and govt

London, Apr 6 (UNI) The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has denied reports published in a section of media that under growing pressure to restore democracy, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is trying to reach a deal with the exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

In a statement, the party said, "The news is false and part of the disinformation campaign launched by the regime." It said the party is of the view "that national resources are being squandered on the pursuit of a witch-hunt against the PPP leadership for more than a decade while the poverty graph of the country is increasing.

However, anti PPP forces continue with their political agenda with a view to support the extremist forces by undermining the forces of democracy." The statement also pointed towards a disinformation campaign "launched against the PPP, a section of the press reported that the National Accountability Bureau's (ANB) Special Operation Wing, has been wound up and that the officer in Charge of the Wing had been transferred to Punjab and somehow concluded through a leap of imagination that this meant that the cases against the PPP leadership had been withdrawn." It said "for some time a segment of the media has quoted named and unnamed sources as claiming that an understanding has been reached with the regime while the PPP workers continue to suffer persecution at its hands and the conspirators who tried to kill Dr Azra, sister of Asif Zardari still roam free.

"Moreover, if and when any understanding had been reached with the regime, the PPP would make it known and it would be apparent. The fact that an understanding can be reached in a cloak of secrecy which perpetuates hardship against the PPP and through it to the people of Pakistan who support it is a ridiculous claim to make but it seems some government ministers are desperate enough to make it,'' the statement read.

UNI