Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto met the top US diplomat in Pakistan

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto met the top US diplomat in Pakistan after Washington called for a resumption of power-sharing talks with President Pervez Musharraf. Ambassador Anne Patterson travelled to Bhutto's stronghold in the southern port city of Karachi for talks at her residence. Patterson also visited the offices of a leading private news channel that was shut down at the weekend by the government to express her concern at the move.

The flurry of activity came after Bhutto spoke late Friday with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte during his weekend visit here to try to defuse the crisis over Musharraf's state of emergency. Before he left Sunday, he urged Musharraf to end emergency rule and resume talks with Bhutto, who had last week ruled out further contacts. Patterson told as she left that she was meeting Bhutto and other political leaders to press for free, fair and transparent elections.