Musarraf’s envoys meet Bhutto in UK

PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s embattled President Pervez Musharraf has sent representatives to London to negotiate with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on a power-sharing pact, a government official said.

Pakistan is facing weeks of uncertainty and the risk of turmoil as army chief Musharraf prepares to secure another term as president while his opponents vow to end military rule.

“We are in contact with Benazir Bhutto, that’s true,” said Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani, referring to newspaper reports that three senior Musharraf confidants were in London for talks. He declined to elaborate.

Musharraf, who analysts say is at his weakest since he seized power in a 1999 coup, met self-exiled Bhutto in Abu Dhabi last month. Liberal-minded Bhutto is seen as a natural ally of Musharraf’s who promotes a vision of “enlightened moderation”.

Her Pakistan People’s Party is generally seen as the country’s most popular party, and a pact with her would broaden Musharraf’s support base.

But Bhutto, a two-time prime minister who has corruption charges hanging over her, has said any deal would depend on Musharraf taking confidence-building steps by the end of August.She wants immunity for the actions of civilian governments from when she first came to power in 1988 and the lifting of a ban on a prime minister serving a third term.

She is also demanding that Musharraf resign from the army.

“If our negotiations fall apart, we can always turn to the other political party,” she told Newsweek magazine in its latest issue, referring to the party of her old rival, another former prime minister in exile in London, Nawaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, Bhutto is in the United Kingdom to finalise plan and a date for her return to homeland in October.

Bhutto met party leaders and consulted with them on the emerging political scenario in the country. She will hold a crucial meeting on September 1 with her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders at her headquarters on the Edgware Road, west London, where she is expected to decide on a date in October for her return after nine years abroad.

In an interview last week, she hinted that time for dialogue with the General was running out as long as he refused to meet her demands.

“While we have been holding negotiations for the transition to democracy, no agreement or understanding has yet been reached,” she said, speaking from New York.

“Time is running out and both sides will know shortly where each stands.”

The proposed pact enjoyed tacit backing from some Western diplomats, who believed it might produce a broad-based secular government that would break the rising tide of Islamism.

Islamabad, Tuesday, Reuters, Asian Age