It concluded: “The army needs political support and has less and less of it as the elections draw near. Its need for this political support will increase after the elections, and the only parties willing to offer it will be the MQM and the PPP.”

Done deal?

More on the PPP. The News quoted sources in the National Accountability Bureau to report on Friday that “the government is all set to move the Swiss courts shortly to seek defreezing of the bank accounts of Benazir Bhutto, her spouse Asif Ali Zardari and other party members.” But Farooq Naek, their counsel, who has filed a petition in the Accountability Court for withdrawal of SGS/Cotecna and ARY references against his clients and return of their assets, claimed that Bhutto and Zardari have no foreign currency accounts: “I, on behalf of both Mohtarma and Zardari Sahib, make it clear that neither do they hold any accounts in Switzerland nor is there any question of their freezing or de-freezing.”