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Zia's son favours PML's return to power minus Sharief

The late General Zia-ul-Haq's son and former president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Ejaz-ul-Haq, favours Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief's replacement as leader of the party if the Muslim League government is restored.

Talking to the British Broadcasting Corporation last night from Dubai, Haq said Sharief should accept a change in leadership within the party in the interests of parliamentary democracy.

In the last two years or so, Haq, who had differences with Sharief on many issues, had been suggesting a change in the party's leadership.

Asked if he himself was aspiring to become prime minister, Haq said it depended on the choice of his party colleagues.

He indicated his approval of the military coup in conditions that had preceded it -- like the elevation of army chief General Pervez Musharraf to the post of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and his sacking less than two weeks later.

Gen Musharraf's indecision about the future set-up in the country following the coup has given rise to many rumours and speculations, one of them being that the PML government may be restored minus Sharief and his close aides.

UNI