Bhutto says no agreement with Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Playing down the significance of her meeting with President Pervez Musharraf in Abu Dhabi, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said no agreement has been reached with the General and she is opposed to Musharraf's continuation in uniform as well as his plans to get re-elected by the present Assemblies.

Declining to directly confirm or deny the meeting with Musharraf on the ground that the President's spokesman has denied it, Bhutto told Geo TV that no agreement or deal has been reached with Musharraf yet.

Asked about comments by her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Parliamentarian and defence counsel of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikar M Chaudhry Aitejaz Ahesan that he along with lawyers' bodies would challenge any plans by Musharraf to continue in uniform after this year, Bhutto said she has made it clear that she would not accept Musharraf's continuation as Chief of army.

"We do not accept President Musharraf in uniform," Bhutto said. "Our stand is that, and I stick to my stand," she told a Sindh Television channel KTN.

She also said there was no change in her stand that any attempt by Musharraf to get elected by the present Assemblies is unconstitutional.

Meanwhile in London, 'The Sunday Telegraph' claimed that Musharraf and Bhutto have struck a broad power-sharing deal to run the country.

Under the deal, Musharraf would step down as commander of chief of the armed forces but retain the presidency. Bhutto would stand in parliamentary elections, and the constitution would be amended to facilitate her to become prime minister for a third term, it claimed.

Musharraf has said he plans to get re-elected between September 15 and October 15 by the same assemblies in uniform. He also said he is entitled to continue as Army Chief till the end of this year as he had the approval of Parliament for it.

He would decide his future course of action after that.

After his re-election as President he said he would dissolve the national and provincial assemblies and hold general elections, most probably in January next year.

Bhutto said that the formation of an impartial Election Commission is compulsory for free and fair elections in the country.

Asked about criticism from Muthahida Majlis Amal (MMA) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Bhutto said MMA backed Musharraf's constitutional amendments in 2003 which enabled him to continue this long.

The secrecy and confusion created by Bhutto-Musharraf meeting was such that some of the newspapers in Pakistan carried two versions, one saying that Musharraf agreed to quit uniform and the other saying that Bhutto has agreed to his continuation as Army Chief.

Musharraf, meanwhile, returned home from his trip to UAE and Saudi Arabia. Looking buoyant and cheerful, he was received by Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz and top army brass.