The Chief Executive, therefore, allowed the import of only 0.5 million tonnes of wheat for the time being, the sources said. The sources said Pakistan planned to import total 2.5 million tons of wheat worth $240 million during 1999-2000 to meet its requirements till the harvesting of fresh crop in May/June 2000. They said the present wheat shortfall had been estimated at 3 mn tonnes.

`Sharif's wife not to accept party posts'
Dawn: Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has refused to accept any office in the party and she has told party leaders in Karachi that she will work like an ordinary worker, former interior minister Chaudhry Shujaat Husain has said. Chaudhry Shujaat, who arrived here from Karachi along with Sharif's family, said in a statement that other party leaders should not try to impose any office on her when she was not ready to accept any responsibility. Those doing so were trying to create confusion in the party, he alleged.

In Lahore, Mrs Nawaz Sharif said the treatment being meted out to her husband was not compatible with the status of a prime minister. She said it was a fact that her husband had some differences with COAS Gen Pervez Musharraf. However, she said, the plane hijacking case was completely baseless. In a fair trial, she claimed, all allegations would prove false. Begum Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif said her husband wanted to settle all differences with India and it was for this reason that she had invited the Indian Prime Minister to visit Pakistan.