Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto speaks to the media at a house in London October 4, 2007.   (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    ISLAMABAD, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani government and the opposition People's Party (PPP) approved the National Reconciliation Ordinance at the midnight of Thursday, a local newspaper DAWN reported on Friday.

    Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister and chairwoman of PPP, accepted the revised draft of National Reconciliation Ordinance late Thursday night, a senior PPP leader Farooq Naik was quoted as saying.

    The final draft of National Reconciliation Ordinance was sent to the federal cabinet for assent. After that it would await President Pervez Musharraf's approval for promulgation on Friday, according to DAWN.

    The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and its coalition partners on Tuesday endorsed the ordinance according to which the government would grant an amnesty to all those who had held public offices between 1988 and 1999 and against whom corruption cases were pending, the DAWN report said.

    However, PPP said that some of its demands were not met in the ordinance and the talks between PPP and the government on a power-sharing deal stalled in London on Wednesday.

    The draft of the ordinance was exchanged several times between the government and PPP, which made some changes to the draft of the ordinance and sent it back to the government on Thursday.

    The parliamentarians of PPP would not resign if PPP reached an understanding with the government, Benazir Bhutto said at a conference on Thursday.

    As many as 163 legislators belonging to the opposition parties alliance "All Parties Democratic Movement" quit on Tuesday in a bid to oppose Musharraf's reelection. Benazir Bhutto also threatened to pull the lawmakers of PPP out of the national assembly and provincial assemblies earlier.

    Pakistani minister: talks with Benazir Bhutto moving in right direction

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto speaks to television crews after leaving talks in London October 3, 2007.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    ISLAMABAD, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Thursday said there was no hurdle in talks with chairperson of Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto and everything was going in right direction.

    According to an understanding between the two sides, PPP would abstain from voting in the forthcoming presidential elections, but would not resign from assemblies, Sheikh Rashid said at a local TV program.

    The ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid, of which Sheikh Rashid is a member, and its allied parties had enough votes to reelect the president and there was no need of any other party's votes, Sheikh Rashid said, adding that PPP cooperation was needed for the credibility of the election.

    Benazir Bhutto would participate in the upcoming general elections and all other things would be decided after the elections, Sheikh Rashid said.