The single-largest party in Pakistan's hung parliament said today it was ready to align with an anti-US religious alliance seeking to end Pakistan's role in the war on terror.
"We are willing to form a coalition with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), but we are keeping our options open," Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Mr Mian Mohammad Azhar said.
Mr Azhar failed to win a seat in the parliament but his party, open supporters of President Mr Pervez Musharraf, secured 77 of the national assembly's 272 general seats.
The party needs the MMA alliance of six fundamentalist parties if it is to reach the 137 seats required for a simple majority to form government.
The MMA holds the balance of power in the new parliament with 45 seats, most from the North West Frontier Province and southwestern Baluchistan province bordering Afghanistan.
The religious alliance campaigned on a platform calling for the Islamisation of Pakistan and an end to Islamabad's support of the US-led terror crackdown.
But Mr Azhar, however, said his party would stick to its declared policy of supporting Pakistan's alliance with the US-led effort to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
PML-Q also has the support of a pro-government National Allliance, with 13 seats, and is counting on the backing of other small parties to reach the 137-seat majority needed to form government.
AFP