US, UK trying to broker Mush-Bhutto deal

London: Britain and the US are trying to broker a power-sharing deal between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto as they believe that it will bolster the Pakistani regime and give it some democratic credibility, media reports said on Friday.

Quoting a senior Western diplomat, London's Daily Telegraph said the two nations were exerting pressure on Gen Musharraf to broaden his political base by bringing Bhutto into his government.

It said they are anxious to ensure that the General, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, retains his hold on power after the worst political crisis of his eight-year rule sparked by the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudry, who was reinstated by the Supreme Court last month.

The paper noted that last week Gen Musharraf, who clashed with the Supreme Court over plans to stand for re-election while remaining head of the Army, contemplated imposing a state of emergency which would have given him sweeping powers.

It quoted US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, currently in Islamabad for talks with Gen Musharraf, as saying on Thursday that Washington hoped the General would hold 'free and fair' polls and pave the way for a transition to democracy.

"The more that those (moderate) tendencies can be brought forward, the more solid base there is to deal with the serious problem of extremism."

Gen Musharraf and Bhutto, he noted, would make "their own choices based on their own calculations," the daily reported.

US and British officials believe that a power-sharing deal with Bhutto's popular, secular Pakistan People's Party will bolster Gen Musharraf's regime and give it some democratic credibility, it said.

If Gen Musharraf were to fall from power, the officials of the two countries fear that his successor might be less inclined to help America's war against terrorism and could even threaten the West with the nuclear arsenal.

Gen Musharraf wants to be re-elected by the existing national and provincial assemblies between mid-September and mid-October before their dissolution for a general election, due by the end of the year.

The Supreme Court is likely to uphold Opposition objections to his being re-elected by the outgoing assemblies and to his re-election while still Army Chief.

A senior Presidential adviser told the newspaper that Gen Musharraf would step down as military chief when he had "consolidated his position after the General Election."

Self-exiled Bhutto, whose two previous governments were dismissed amid allegations of corruption, has held on-off talks with Gen Musharraf since 2002. The latest round was held in Abu Dhabi last month.

Any deal would require changes to the Constitution to remove a ban on anyone serving as prime minister more than twice and to shelve corruption charges against Bhutto. But, the paper said, she has to overcome opposition within her own party to what some see as a grubby deal with a discredited President.

"We want to avoid a situation where we are seen as bailing out an unpopular military dictatorship," Bhutto had told the New York Times.

She said talks with Gen Musharraf were too slow and claimed that he had already reneged on some of his promises.