No troika meeting held on Friday: ISPR

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Army refuted the media reports that Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday.
“No meeting of the COAS with President or/and PM held today,” ISPR Director General Major general Athar Abbas said. He, however, added that there was a meeting scheduled for today (Saturday) in connection with the US visit. This rebuttal from the military chief spokesperson came after a statement issued from the Presidency on Friday said that President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani during their one-on-one meeting had discussed Pak-US Strategic Dialogue scheduled to be held in Washington.
However, TheNation has reliably learnt that General Kayani was scheduled to participate in a troika meeting on Friday but had to reschedule it at the eleventh hour following the judicial crisis.
General Kayani would also be a part of the Pakistani delegation scheduled to visit USA next week to participate in the crucial second round of the US-Pak Strategic Dialogue which would deliberate on at least sixteen different issues relating to Pakistan’s cooperation in the international war on terror, its defence needs and economic challenges.