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ISLAMABAD : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf held talks with top aides Friday amid opposition from his allies to plans for a deal with ex-premier Benazir Bhutto that could see him quit as army chief.
Musharraf, who is fighting for his political life, and advisers were also to discuss how to deal with a vow from another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to return from exile on September 10 and oppose him.
The United States further reminded its key ally in the "war on terror" of his previous commitments to shed his uniform before seeking re-election by parliament in September or October.
"The president is holding further discussions with his top political aides later Friday," one of the aides told AFP on condition of anonymity. A minister also confirmed the discussions were taking place.
He said Musharraf was trying to "thrash out differences with (the) ruling party leadership, which opposes an amendment which will pave the way for Bhutto or Sharif to hold the prime minister's office for the third term."
Talk of a deal with Bhutto is causing alarm in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Party, which has backed Musharraf since the last general elections in 2002. Fresh polls are due by early next year.
Current Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met party leader Chaudry Shujaat Hussain, his predecessor in the job, and other key ministers, on Friday, a government statement said.
Aziz told them that Pakistan "needs national and political reconciliation and as such we are engaged in the process of dialogue with different political parties to create an atmosphere of harmony," it said.
Bhutto, considered a natural ally for Musharraf because of her more liberal stance, has pledged to come back from her exile over corruption charges, although she is pushing the president for a pact first.
Her Pakistan People's Party, the country's largest, said it was still waiting for a response from the president's camp.
"If Musharraf does not agree to our proposals, we will have to go our separate ways. Our struggle for democracy will continue," party spokesman Farhatullah Babar told AFP.
Bhutto wants Musharraf to quit the army before the presidential election; concede the power to dissolve parliament; and overturn a ban on anyone serving a third term as prime minister, which would have ruled her out.
Meanwhile Sharif, who served as premier between 1990 and 1993 and again from 1997 to 1999, condemned the proposed Bhutto deal as "bad for the country."
Sharif said on Thursday that he would fly home on September 10 after seven years in exile to lead a "decisive battle" against Musharraf, who ousted him in a coup in 1999, and contest general elections.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that Sharif can come home but the government said it was deciding on what action to take if he does. There has been speculation it could expel him immediately or arrest him on criminal charges it says are still outstanding.
In Washington, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Pakistanis would have to decide themselves whether Musharraf should keep his army position but added that "Musharraf has made commitments in the past."
A senior US official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP Musharraf had "given us assurance that he is going to resolve the issue of the dual leadership, and he is going to do that in the near term."
Musharraf is already under intense pressure at home and abroad over the government's inability to quell extremist violence in tribal districts and attacks in other cities.
He also came off worse in his feud with Pakistan's Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whose suspension triggered a wave of protests across the country that eventually forced his reinstatement.
The violence and political chaos even led Musharraf to consider declaring a state of emergency earlier in August.
- AFP /ls
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