The widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto met former premier Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday and said they discussed their fears that next week's elections would be rigged. The meeting between Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif further cemented opposition to President Pervez Musharraf ahead of the vote on Monday, with opinion polls showing plummeting public support for the former army general.

"We have already expressed our reservations to the Chief Election Commissioner about rigging in the general elections," Zardari told reporters after calling on Nawaz at his house. "We want to make the constitutional institutions stronger so that no one could make them weaker." Zardari said his party would decide whether to work with Musharraf if it won the election. Nawaz Sharif ruled out any co-operation with the president.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008