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ISLAMABAD, Monday (AFP) Campaigning here for October polls gained momentum with weekend pledges by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that she would return to contest the election from prison if neccessary.

Farhuttal Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party told AFP Sunday that a formal announcement concerning Bhutto's return from self-exile to Pakistan would be made soon.

"The party will soon make an announcement about her return in the light of political activity gaining momentum," Babar said.

He gave no specific date, but other sources said Bhutto would most likely return in the first week of September, about five weeks before the nationwide vote on October 10.

Babar meanwhile confirmed that Bhutto last week had asked her press managers to reschedule media engagements already fixed for the first week of September.

But there was a mixed response in the camp of the other major opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), about whether its top leadership would return from exile.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has not filed nomination papers for his candidacy in the election, but his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif filed his after being elected as PML-N president early this month.

Both have been living in Saudi Arabia since they were exiled in December 2000 under a clandestine deal between Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf and the Saudi government.

Musharraf has vowed not to let Sharif family members to return to the country in breach of the agreement, the details of which he said cannot be disclosed for reasons of confidentiality.

"We are closely watching the situation. The election will give people an opportunity to settle their score against the harsh and anti-people policies of the Musharraf regime," PML spokesman Siddiqul Farooq told AFP.

The PPP's Babar said meanwhile the party was making all arrangements to receive Bhutto.

Bhutto kicked off her election campaign in earnest on Saturday from London's Trafalgar Square where she addressed a rally of more than 1,000 supporters.

"For peace in Pakistan, democracy is necessary. For a South Asia free of terrorism, democracy is necessary. And for the prosperity of the people of Pakistan and indeed the people of South Asia, democracy is necessary."

Earlier last week Bhutto told the BBC she was not intimidated by threats of imprisonment. "I don't mind going to prison as long as I can contest those elections," she said.

A two-time premier of Pakistan, Bhutto has been living in exile shuttling between London and Dubai. She left the country shortly before her conviction in a corruption case in 1998 which was later set aside by the Supreme Court, which ordered a retrial.

Musharraf has said she would be arrested on her arrival in Pakistan as she faces around a dozen corruption related charges.

But in an e-mail interview with AFP last week Bhutto said: "I hope to run for premier myself as I am still qualified to contest."

Meanwhile, the election commission has allowed two more days for filing candidate nominations in response to demands for an extension by parties which have been busy finalising a list of contestants.

The last five weeks have witnessed brisk activity related to the nomination process and inter-party discussions towards alliances, but at the public level an election atmosphere is still largely missing.

"The regime is responsible for the lack of desired public participation in electioneering as it has not removed the more than two-year-old ban on public rallies which are an essential ingredients of election campaign," a senior politician said.

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