Pakistan to hold talks with rebel cleric The government of Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday sought negotiations with the moderate Islamic scholar whose followers have practically paralysed Islamabad with protests demanding sweeping political reform. Shortly after Tahirul Qadri set a final deadline for his demands to be met, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf offered to send a four-member team of influential politicians to hold talks with him. The government's concession was seen as an acknowledgment of growing pressure as the authorities battle one of the biggest public protests in Islamabad in recent years. In a speech on Thursday Mr Qadri told his followers braving heavy rain and the cold of a Pakistan winter: "Enough is enough. We have to finish this battle by this evening (Thursday). Tomorrow there will be no sit-in. An aide to Mr Qadri told the Financial Times he would seek written promises that parliament would be dissolved and fresh elections held that would bar tainted politicians from standing. Earlier on Thursday the chief of the Pakistani government's anti-corruption department rejected a Supreme Court order to arrest Mr Ashraf, television channels reported. On Tuesday, the court had ordered the arrest of Mr Ashraf in connection with alleged kickbacks in transactions involving rental power plants when he served as power minister. Fasih Bokhari, head of the National Accountability Bureau, told the Supreme Court that investigations of the allegations against Mr Ashraf were incomplete, local television channels reported.