Musharraf's visit to China re-scheduled for tomorrow (Lead: Musharraf)

Islamabad, August 6 : Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is likely to leave for China on Thursday to attend Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing.

"In view of our special relations with China, the President has decided to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics," The News quoted Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson as saying in a statement.

President Musharraf, who was earlier expected to leave for China today had cancelled his visit due to "developments at home", the Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq told reporters.

During the visit, the President is also expected to hold bilateral talks with the Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao and Chairman of National Peoples Council Wu Bungguo.

President Musharraf is also expected to meet US President George W Bush on the sideline of the Olympics. The President is also scheduled to meet the Chinese leadership and discuss matters of mutual interest, and is also expected to meet the heads of several financial institutions and foreign investors.

The cancellation of Musharraf's visit comes hours after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif was told by Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari that he was ready to impeach Musharraf if the coalition had numbers (majority) in the National Assembly.

The "make-or-break" meeting between the two leaders was meant to resolve contentious issues between the two coalition partners, including the sacked judges' reinstatement and the impeachment of the President.

Sources privy to the meeting reportedly said that the agreement came about after senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif assured Zardari that the coalition partners had sufficient strength to impeach Musharraf if the PPP took the initiative.

"Both parties agreed that the issue of reinstating the sacked judges could easily be resolved once they succeeded in getting rid of President Musharraf," the sources added.

The President is also likely to meet leaders of Russia, Australia, France and Italy on the sidelines of Olympics.

ANI