Pakistani PM to replace Musharraf to attend Beijing Olympic opening ceremony

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani would attend the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics in place of President Pervez Musharraf, local media reported on Thursday.

Musharraf was originally scheduled to go China to attend the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics. But he delayed his visit on Wednesday as Pakistan's ruling coalition agreed to impeach him.

Pakistani foreign ministry said in an brief statement late on Wednesday that Musharraf decided to visit China due to "special relations" between the two countries.

But now the Pakistani prime minister will visit China to attend the Olympic opening ceremony, News Network International (NNI) news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Sadiq as saying.

Xinhua made phone calls to Sadiq, but no one was answering.

Some reports said that the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP)and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had agreed to impeach Musharraf after two-day long consultations.

A four-member draft committee has completed the draft statement on Musharraf's impeachment, and the joint statement will be released later on Thursday, private Geo TV channel said.