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Amidst political turmoil in Pakistan, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday dismissed reports of an army takeover of the troubled country once again.
Sharif, who has urged the masses to defy a government clampdown and join a nationwide protest, said the "chances of army takeover is absolutely nil".
Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, according to a press release from the premier's office. It gave no details of their discussion.
The meeting comes at a time when President Asif Ali Zardari was on a visit to Iran.
In 1999, then army chief General Pervez Musharraf seized the power from premier Sharif in a bloodless coup.
Despite a crackdown on the Pakistan Muslim League (N) workers and lawyers, a defiant Sharif told CNN-IBN news channel that his party will go ahead with its long march.
Asked if the deepening political crisis will open the door for the US to intervene, Sharif said: "there is absolutely no need for international intervention and we are capable of restoring order in our house."
Blaming Zardari for the current imbroglio in the country, Sharif said "talks with him possible only after he reinstates the judges as promised earlier."