Final round of Musharraf-Bhutto talks imminent

Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf will make a final attempt to seal a deal with exiled former Premier Benazir Bhutto that could keep the general in power, a senior official said today.

Envoys for Musharraf and Bhutto will meet on this evening or tomorrow in Abu Dhabi, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Dawn News television.

However, a spokesman for Bhutto said no such meeting had been arranged.

Musharraf and Bhutto have been discussing a pact that would shore up the president’s troubled re-election bid while allowing the former prime minister to return to Pakistan and contest parliamentary elections.

But Bhutto has failed to win a public commitment from Musharraf that he will quit as army chief or give up the presidential power to fire the government.

Musharraf’s supporters have balked at Bhutto’s demand that she be allowed to return and run for a third term as prime minister.

With Musharraf up for re-election between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, Ahmed said there would be no time for another round of negotiations and that the talks would likely fail.

“I don’t think the hard-liners of both sides will allow” agreement, Ahmed said.

Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party said no such arrangements had been made for a meeting at any level. He said the party had told the government about its outstanding concerns but had received no response.

“Nothing has been lined up,” he said.

Musharraf has dominated Pakistani politics since seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and became a key US ally after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

But his authority has waned since a botched attempt in March to fire the country’s top judge triggered protests and widespread calls for an end to military rule.

Washington continues to praise Musharraf, but is also pressing for a broader-based government that can strengthen Pakistan’s efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

A pact with Bhutto would include amendments to the constitution to pre-empt challenges to Musharraf’s eligibility before the Supreme Court.

However, leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, whose influence would be eroded by any agreement with Bhutto, have said she is demanding too much in return.

Both Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, another exiled former premier, have vowed to return, with or without the government’s blessing, and contest general elections due by January 2008.

Sharif, who was jailed and later sent to Saudi Arabia after Musharraf toppled his government, has announced that he will return on September 10, despite threats that he could be re-arrested.

Bhutto, who fled corruption allegations in 1999, said she will return in the coming weeks, but has set no date.