Govt, opposition end hours-long discussion on 'Azadi March' with no result.

Byline: Nadir Guramani and Javed HussainUpdated

Discussions between the government's negotiation committee and the opposition's Rehbar Committee on the anti-government 'Azadi March' ended late Friday night without any results.

The two sides had initially held talks on Friday evening with the government team putting talks on hold briefly to seek time to take into confidence top government leadership.

The meeting, which was held at JUI-F leader Akram Durrani's residence in Islamabad, later reconvened after both sides had a discussion within their own groups.

Talks were to resume at 10pm, according to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, but started at around 10:30pm.

The Rehbar Committee members had also earlier in the day, prior to the meeting with the government, gathered for a discussion between themselves.

Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, who led the government side, said the initial talks - which lasted around two hours - were held "in a cordial environment". "Both sides put forward their recommendations. God-willing we will give the nation good news soon," he had said.

Later, after the second phase of discussions concluded without any headway, he said: "No important conclusion could be brought about today even after much discussion. But talks will continue."

From the opposition camp, JUI-F leader Durrani said "no conclusion could be arrived at".

Sources privy to the meeting told DawnNewsTV that the venue of the protest remained a sticking point in the first round of discussion, with the government refusing to grant permission for it to be held at D-Chowk and instead offering that it may be held at Parade Ground. The opposition did not agree to the government's offer.

The sources further revealed that of the opposition's demands - which include the prime minister's resignation, fresh elections, supremacy of civilian institutions, and the safeguarding of clauses pertaining to Islam within the Constitution - in the first round, talks were held only on the protest venue.

According to the government team, the opposition presented them with a written proposal of the demands. These were discussed with the prime minister before talks resumed.

The opposition committee members in attendance included Durrani, Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP)'s Awais Noorani, PPP's Nayyar Bukhari and Farhatullah Babar, PML-N's Ahsan Iqbal, former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Awami National Party's Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Qaumi Watan Party's Hashim Babar and...