Musharraf-Benazir deal will not last: Nawaz

New Delhi, Aug 3: Exiled former Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif, who has refused to be a ''dummy prime minister'' under President Pervez Musharraf, says the Musharraf-Benazir deal on pre-election power-sharing will not last.

''No party or person who believes in democracy should get into any dialogue with military dictators. They ruined our system. They have violated our system. They have violated the Constitution. They are usurpers, traitors,'' Mr Sharif, deposed by Gen Musharraf, his handpicked Army Chief, told 'India Today' in an interview in London.

''We have signed a Charter of Democracy with Benazir Bhutto in which it's clearly written that we would not enter into parleys or deals with the Government. I stand by that.'' ''If any party, which has put its signature on the document, is engagaed in a dialogue with the Government, it's a matter of concern.'' ''I don't think any such arrangement will last,'' he said of the deal endorsed by the federal cabinet recently.

Mr Sharif said Gen Musharraf had approached him thrice by sending emissaries, ''but I refused to meet them''.

''I am not interested in becoming another Shaukat Aziz. I don't want to serve under Musharraf. I don't want to be a dummy prime minister.'' Revealing fresh insights into the Kargil conflict, the former premier said he never wanted to let his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee down for whom he had great regards, but had to cut a sorry figure after being ''stabbed in the back by Gen Musharraf''.

''I was never in favour of a war with India.... I have great regards for Vajpayee. I never wanted to let him down. And this man (Gen Musharraf) committed a blunder and embarrassed me,'' he said.

Mr Sharif said he had a three-hour meeting with then US President Bill Clinton before the ceasefire was announced.

''Bill Clinton then called up Vajpayee in the middle of the night. We felt the conflict in Kargil could lead to a full-fledged war between the two countries which could ultimately turn into a nuclear conflict. We did our best. We are also thankful to Vajpayee for his cooperation which made the ceasefire possible.'' Hitting out at President Musharraf, Mr Sharif said the general was hoodwinking the West by giving them an impression of being a friend but doing exactly the opposite back home.

''He was responsible for extremist parties gaining power, for sidelining liberal parties like ours and creating a vacuum which was then filled up by the extremist forces.'' Claiming that the Lal Masjid issue was the creation of Gen Musharraf, he asked: ''What was he doing for the past six months.

Why did he allow ammunition build-up inside the masjid.'' The former premier asserted that Pakistan was not a failed state.

Frequent army takeovers and the interventions of generals had led to that impression.

''We can turn Pakistan back into a very successful state if the army is confined to the barracks,'' said Mr Sharif who is planning to return to Pakistan to participate in the 2008 General Election.

''Things are unpredictable at the moment. Even Musharraf doesn't know whether he is going to get elected in the current Assembly or the next Assembly. He doesn't know where the country is heading. I don't know where we are heading. But I believe I have a role to play and I'm playing that role.'' Mr Sharif, who was wearing a suit during the interview, was asked whether he would give up his ties and jackets to do politics in Pakistan.

''I have been wearing salwar kemeez and waistcoat for a long time. I will try to wear both dresses this time if I get a chance,'' he laughingly said.

UNI