Final round of Musharraf-Bhutto talks imminent
PAKISTAN: President Gen. Pervez Musharraf planned a final attempt
Tuesday to seal a deal with exiled former Premier Benazir Bhutto that
could keep the general in power, a senior official said.
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 U.S.-allied 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.
Envoys for Musharraf and Bhutto were to meet on Monday evening or
Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Dawn
News television.
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 told The Associated Press.
Musharraf has dominated Pakistani politics since seizing power in a
bloodless coup in 1999 and became a key U.S. ally after the Sept. 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.
But 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.
Islamabad, Tuesday, AP
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