Minister confirms COAS-Fazl meeting.

Byline: Khalid Hasnain

LAHORE -- Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday confirmed a recent meeting between Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulama Fazlur Rehman, but said he would not make public the discussion held between the two.

'It is a fact. Everyone is talking about their meeting [between COAS and the Maulana]. Before going to Beijing, we had discussed this since the COAS and I were together at that moment. He [the army chief] is my college fellow. But I cannot make public the discussion we had [about the meeting],' he said while responding to a question regarding reports about a recent meeting between the two.

Ignoring the prime minister's reported instructions to ministers not to talk negatively about Nawaz Sharif's health, Mr Rashid termed the PML-N supremo's ailment an 'opening' to move abroad.

'Whenever his [Mr Sharif's] health deteriorates, doors for going abroad for him open. I tell you clearly that Asif Zardari's health condition is more serious than Nawaz Sharif's. But he is spending [his time in jail] well than Nawaz Sharif,' the minister deplored at his weekly press conference here.

He termed Shahbaz Sharif a 'bigger thief' than his elder brother and said he had told Imran Khan to let them [top opposition leaders] go abroad and rule the country without any problem by getting rid of them...