Pakistan's Bhutto urges Musharraf to quit army

Islamabad, May 4: Benazir Bhutto, self-exiled former prime minister of Pakistan, said today she might reach some political deal with President Pervez Musharraf, but he should quit his role as army chief to foster true democracy.

Pakistan has been rife with speculation in recent weeks that Musharraf and Bhutto were overcoming their mutual distrust to forge a common front against religious conservative forces ahead of a general election later this year.

''We admit there are contacts because we want transparency, but we don't say the deal has been done,'' she told reporters in Dubai in a telecast carried by Pakistani networks today.

Bhutto said previous contacts had come to nothing, but added: ''This time, there might be a deal and there might not be a deal.'' However, she insisted Musharraf should fulfil his commitment to step down as army chief by the end of 2007 before any deal could be reached.

''A president in uniform and democracy cannot go together ... we want military to go back to barracks,'' Bhutto said.

Musharraf, an important ally in the US-led war on terrorism, promotes a vision of ''enlightened moderation'' and Bhutto's liberal Pakistan Peoples Party is seen as his natural ally to counter the growing influence of religious hardliners.

Bhutto wants the government to drop corruption charges against her in Pakistan and abroad so that she can return home to lead her party.

Analysts say Musharraf, locked in a legal row over his move to sack the country's top judge, might be willing to improve relations with Bhutto to stem the slide in his popularity and answer critics who accuse him of stifling democracy.

Bhutto faces considerable opposition within her own party to working with Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 military coup.

But she risks losing her support base the longer she stays out of Pakistan, having been in self-exile for almost a decade.

The shape of any prospective deal remains hazy.

Whether it would result in outright power-sharing is uncertain, but it would have to start with Bhutto offering tacit support for Musharraf's re-election in return for the all-clear to return home.

Reuters>