Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf met former prime minister in exile Benazir Bhutto at Abu Dhabi recently to negotiate a deal for a safe exit, a senior Opposition leader has said.

“The Abu Dhabi meeting was held on Musharraf’s asking. The President wants a safe exit and that is why he had sought mediation of various people to negotiate the same with Bhutto,” the Dawn reported on Sunday, quoting Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Abida Hussain as saying.

According to her, Musharraf’s graph had nose-dived within no time. “A few months ago no one believed that the President would get weaker so soon.”

Stating that it was for Musharraf to prove in the Supreme Court that he was eligible to contest the presidential election in uniform, Hussain said, “In case, the apex court clears him, still he would become a titular head of state in the days ahead.”

The Islamic nation’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) also stood no future, she claimed.

Hussain, a former Minister, however, defended her party chief by saying that the PPP Chairperson met Musharraf only for the sake of democracy.

Though many people had reservations about the meeting, she said, the PPP chief took a better decision in the interest of Pakistan. “Everyone has the right to have his own opinion on the issue. But those who want the nation to make a smooth transition to democracy will support Bhutto’s move.”

Bhutto had also shared all the details of the Abu Dhabi meeting with the media in presence of a large number of party leaders who were in London recently to seek party tickets for the general elections slated for later this year, she said.

Busharraf: dangerous ties
Asserting that the US advising Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf against imposing emergency is not enough, an influential daily here has asked Washington to tell him to negotiate a rapid return to democracy before it is took late and warned that he is turning into one of the Bush administration’s “most dangerous” partners, PTI reports from New York.

While stating this, the New York Times in an editorial titled ‘High-Maintenance Musharraf’ was referring to the midnight call of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday to the General during which she apparently advised him against seizing new powers to suspend Parliament, hamstring courts, curb street demonstration and guarantee himself a new Presidential term. Stating that after eight years of authoritarianism and broken promises, Musharraf has forfeited the support he once enjoyed among ordinary Pakistanis, educated professionals and even fellow military officers, the Times stressed that more than early-morning crisis management will be needed to keep “this very difficult situation from turning drastically worse”.