LONDON, May 9: Talks between PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif over the issue of reinstatement of judges, touted as make-or-break negotiations, remained inconclusive here on Friday as the two sides continued to agree to disagree on whether to retain the November 3, 2007, PCO judges on an ad hoc basis or accept them as permanent members of the benches.

Mr Sharif told the waiting media-persons after what appeared to be 7-hour-long negotiations spread over two sessions and carried on at two different places that the May 12 deadline remained sacrosanct for his party and that the PML-N was loath to give the PCO judges a permanent status.

He gave the impression that he still believed that a breakthrough could be achieved by May 12 as he doggedly warded off questions about leaving the coalition.

However, at one stage he said the decision with regard to his party’s future relations with the PPP would be taken after May 12.

He said he was leaving for Pakistan on Saturday.

No one from the PPP side was available to give their side of the story.

The talks began at around 1pm British Standard Time (5pm Pakistan Standard Time) at the Park Lane flat of Mr Sharif. At around 7pm PST Mr Sharif accompanied by Mr Zardari left ostensibly for the hospital where Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz is recuperating. At around 10:30pm it was announced that the two were not coming back and that they were continuing their talks at some other place. At around 11:15pm, as the disappointed media-persons were leaving, Mr Sharif drove in and met them briefly.

When the talks opened, Mr Sharif was accompanied by PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, vice-president Ghous Ali Shah and federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Khwaja Asif.

Interestingly, PM’s adviser on interior affairs Rehman Malik was missing from the PPP side and Pakistan’s ambassador designate to the US Hussain Haqqani was the only person who accompanied Mr Zardari in the first session of the talks.

Mr Haqqani’s presence gave rise to the speculation that perhaps he had brought some message for the negotiators from the United States where a Congresswoman, Shiela Jackson, had recently caused a rumpus with her remark that Mr Sharif should be watched.

The speculations became more colourful when the two leaders did not re-appear for more than two hours. Some said, perhaps they had gone to call on some important UK official, may be Foreign Secretary David Milliband, for mediation. Others said perhaps the two were meeting MQM leader Altaf Hussain to bring him on board on the issue of judges’ reinstatement.

However, Khwaja Asif, talking to the media, nailed all the speculations and said if the US leadership had wanted to tell something to the negotiators they could have easily used the telephone. He denied vehemently the supposition that the two leaders were meeting the MQM chief.

He said both the parties realised that a breakdown of the talks would only strengthen the non-democratic forces and pave the way for their return, “that is why we are going to such lengths to save the coalition”.

He said there was no difference between the two parties over the draft of the resolution to be passed by parliament except for what he termed some semantics. He was not for retaining the PCO judges as permanent bench members.

Mr Haqqani said his party did not consider Friday’s meeting as make-or-break talks and expressed optimism that the two parties would come to some kind of agreement without any further loss of time.

Sources said Mr Zardari left for a dinner appointment with Altaf Hussain after the talks.