Musharraf's allies question deal with Bhutto

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Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf are seen in this combination photo.

ISLAMABAD, Sept 1 (Agencies): Allies of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf have raised objections to a power-sharing deal he is negotiating with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, casting fresh doubt on the future of the embattled president. With his term coming to an end and his popularity plummeting, army chief Musharraf is trying to shore up his position as he prepares to seek election for another term by the national and provincial assemblies.
He has turned to Bhutto for help-her popular Pakistan People's Party would broaden his base of support-and has been negotiating a pact that is expected to see him quit as army chief and Bhutto become prime minister.
But many members of Musharraf's ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) are alarmed at the prospect of their old rival Bhutto returning from eight years of exile to take power from them
PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said he had conveyed his reservations about parts of the proposed deal to Musharraf.
"We told him that there are certain things which are harmful for the country and the nation and they should be asked to review them," Hussain told Reuters on Friday, referring to Bhutto and her party and some of the demands they have been making.
Bhutto, who has been prime minister twice, wants the lifting of a ban on a person serving a third term. She also wants the president stripped of the power to dismiss governments.
Bhutto has insisted an agreement would hinge on Musharraf stepping down as chief of the army, which has ruled for more than half Pakistan's history since independence in 1947.
Both Bhutto and a government minister said this week Musharraf's uniform was no longer an obstacle, raising prospects that Musharraf might quit the army before his re-election.
Hussain told The New York Times in an interview on Friday that Musharraf would resign as chief of army staff before parliamentary elections scheduled for the first week of January, but would remain in uniform to seek re-election as president in coming weeks.
"He will take off the uniform before general elections" for parliament, Hussain said.
He said the chief factor in Musharraf's decision to resign his army post was the likelihood the Supreme Court chief justice would declare his continued military rule unconstitutional.
But Musharraf would not risk resigning his military post before his re-election as president was assured, Hussain told the Times.
While agreement on Musharraf stepping down from the army appeared to have been reached, opposition from within Musharraf's party to other aspects of the deal was clouding its prospects.
A PML member of parliament said some in the party were trying to derail the deal. "Most of our members are worried about a deal with BB (Bhutto). They think she will steal the show," said the politician who declined to be identified.
Meanwhile: Associates of Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf are in London for critical talks with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's party as it mulls whether the political rivals can reach a power-sharing deal, officials from both sides said SaturdayBhutto met Friday with colleagues from her Pakistan People's Party and was to hold more discussions with them Saturday on whether to keep negotiating with the military leader.
Musharraf and Bhutto have been wrangling for months over the terms of an agreement that would shore up his re-election bid and allow her to return to Pakistan to contest parliamentary elections.
However, she has yet to win a public commitment from Musharraf on two critical points - that he step down as army chief and give up the power to dismiss the government and Parliament
Wajid Hassan, a party spokesman in London, said the Pakistan People's Party was waiting for written answers to questions raised with Musharraf's officials.
But a Cabinet minister and a senior figure in the Pakistan People's Party in Islamabad said associates of Musharraf were in London for talks with Bhutto's side. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue and said they had no details of the discussions, whose outcome remained uncertain.
Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto's party, told The Associated Press on Friday that "we would like to know firmly whether the government agrees to our proposals for the transition to democracy or not."
Bhutto said Wednesday that Musharraf had agreed to step down as military chief before he asks lawmakers for a new term as president in either September or October.