Doherty and Barat reunite

Estranged Libertines frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barat were reunited in London on Monday night after an 11-month rift.

The rockers embraced and talked enthusiastically at a London bar, appearing to put the stormy events of the past year firmly behind them.

Barat, who had tried and failed to steer his beloved bandmate away from a life of drug-fuelled crime, had avoided Doherty since the opening of Barat's club Dirty Pretty Things in June last year.

But when he arrived at the Boogaloo bar in Highgate, north London, he heard the troubled Babyshambles singer was likely to appear at some point, and decided to face the star, telling friends, "It might as well happen now, because it's going to happen sometime."

The 'Can't stand me now' singer arrived at 11.30pm, and after initial awkwardness, the pair soon forgot the past, talking and hugging affectionately.

The Libertines sacked Doherty last May after his heroin addiction caused a string of problems for the band, including Doherty's jail sentence in 2003 for burgling Barat's flat.