The New Nation - Internet Edition

BBC Online

Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif the leaders of the two parties that won Pakistan's elections have signed an agreement on a coalition government.

Asif Ali Zardari, widower of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, and ex-PM Nawaz Sharif called on President Pervez Musharraf to convene parliament immediately.

February's parliamentary elections delivered a crushing defeat to parties loyal to President Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf has urged the incoming government to leave politics aside and concentrate on good governance.

The coalition deal will bring together the Pakistan People's Party, which was led by Benazir Bhutto until her assassination, and the PML(N) party of Sharif.

Sharif has consistently called for the president to step down in the wake of the elections, which were regarded as a key step in

Zardari and Sharif told a news conference they had agreed to vote to restore judges from the Supreme Court and high courts ousted by President Pervez Musharraf in November.

Such a move would further cloud Musharraf's political future.

"It was also agreed that the PML(N) shall be part of the federal cabinet," Sharif told the news conference in the resort of Murree.

Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on 27 December, causing the elections to be delayed