巴基斯坦政府星期五谋求化解一场日益加剧的政治危机，提出在镇压反政府抗议的第三天同反对派领袖举行谈判。
在此之前，巴基斯坦政府同高级政治和军方领导人举行会议，并同美国的外交官举行磋商。
与此同时，警方星期五扩大对抗议的禁令，并拘留了数十名活动人士。当局在西北边界省封锁公共集会地点。当局早些时候在中部的旁遮普省和信德省实施过类似的禁令。
警方星期五在卡拉奇等城市拦截准备进入首都伊斯兰堡的车队，他们准备星期一在伊斯兰堡的议会举行静坐。谢里夫领导的反对派活动人士要求扎尔达里总统恢复被前总统穆沙拉夫免职的首席大法官的职务。
The Pakistani government is seeking to diffuse a growing political crisis Friday, offering to talk with opposition leaders on the third day of a crackdown on anti-government protests.
The government’s offer for negotiations follows several meetings with top political and military leaders as well as consultations with American diplomats.
At the same time, Pakistani officials widened the ban on protests and rounded up dozens of activists. Public gatherings were blocked in North West Frontier Province on Friday, similar to earlier bans imposed on central Punjab and southern Sindh provinces.
Police have stopped convoys of protesters in Karachi and other cities that set out for the capital, Islamabad, for a sit-in at the parliament on Monday. Opposition activists led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif are demanding that President Asif Ali Zardari reinstate the former Supreme Court chief justice who was ousted by former president Pervez Musharraf.