Pakistan's opposition parties reach agreement

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's two main opposition parties announced Thursday they would form a new government together, but skirted the issue of whether they would push for the ouster of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf.

ruling party said Friday it doubted that the new alliance would be stable, calling it a "marriage of convenience."
The broad agreement between the two secular opposition groups, which fought bitterly for a decade before Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup, marks an important step toward setting up a civilian administration to govern the Islamic nation after years of military rule.
Asif Ali Zardari, husband of slain former Premier Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, whose last government was ousted by Musharraf, made the announcement after meeting in Islamabad.
"We have agreed on a common agenda. We will work together to form a government together in the center and in the provinces," Sharif told reporters. He said a smaller group, the Awami National Party, would join them.