The eventual signing of the Umno-PAS Muafakat Nasional cooperation charter on Sept 14 is the result of a 21-year process that also involved a rescue mission, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed today.

Underscoring efforts toward bringing together the two parties, Zahid (photo) recalled how he first broached the subject during a speech in 1998 at Darul Syifa, an Islamic treatment centre founded by former PAS spiritual advisor the late Haron Din...