"Saddam has sent a letter to his grandson in Jordan."
"Saying that life inside Iraq isn't as happy as outside Iraq these days for the Hussein family?"
"Well, saying that he should take care of his family and maintain the family's reputation."
"That might not be the right advice from a grandfather in jail waiting for several human rights charges to be brought against him."
"So what advice do you think would have been more appropriate?"
"Well, perhaps to say it is better to have ruled and then die ignominiously then never to have ruled at all. I don't know I mean the reputation of the family is not very good these days. Even the insurgents in Iraq are not going to tolerate his comeback, if you know what I mean."
"I wonder what is going on in Nawaz Sharif's family? I mean they are in sort of a cage too, a golden one but still a cage."
"They are not accused of mass genocide, or indeed of starting wars with neighbours. Oh, there was Kargil but we have been informed by Chaudhry that Nawaz Sharif was informed, but we don't know about what? The geography of Kargil? I am sure he didn't even know where Kargil was initially!"
"Yeah, he probably thought it was somewhere in the Central Asian Republics and required a foreign trip - that must have excited him. Initially at least I mean."
"That would even excite our politicians of today."
"But considering Nawaz Sharif's level of information, right up to the end, I would doubt if he had been informed."
"Or whether if he was informed he took it in?"
"Indeed, there was always that with him."
"But talking of Saddam, are we going to send troops to Iraq or aren't we?"
"You asked me this question before and all I can say is that I don't know - the foreign office spokesman Masood Khan has said that President Musharraf had already categorically stated that Pakistan was not sending troops to Iraq and that no commitment whatsoever had been made to send troops to form a proposed Muslim multinational force."
"I heard Musharraf say that Pakistan would send troops if asked by the Iraqi government. It was also reported that Musharraf said that we would send troops if our Parliament agreed. Our Parliament said no decision has been taken."
"One question: why is Masood Khan quoting the head of state as opposed to the head of government that he is supposed to quote, if you know what I mean?"
"Because the head of state is also the head of government these days and that's how the cookie crumbles."