Amid reports of a rift between them, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met here on Thursday to discuss the regional security situation after the country’s admission that captured Mumbai attacker Ajmal Amir Kasab is its national.

Gilani sought the meeting with Zardari to discuss the fallout of the government’s acknowledgment on Wednesday that 22-year-old Kasab is a Pakistani. There was no official word on the meeting though official sources were quoted by TV channels as saying that Gilani briefed Zardari on the prevailing situation and his decision to sack National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani for confirming Kasab’s Pakistani nationality to the media without taking him into confidence.

The meeting came amid Pakistani media reports that Zardari was angry over Gilani’s decision to sack Durrani

without consulting him. Durrani had been handpicked by Zardari for the key post last year. Zardari learnt of Durrani’s removal from media reports and was informed about the move only after Gilani had made the decision, a report in the pro-establishment daily The News said.

The two leaders also discussed the appointment of a new National Security Advisor and considered several names. Among these was former NSA Tariq Aziz, who held the post during the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf.

After he was sacked, Durrani, a former general and a strong votary of close ties between India and Pakistan, said he had done nothing wrong and that he was “supposed” to tell the media about Kasab’s Pakistani nationality.

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