Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Saturday she had not yet reached a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf but will return to Pakistan “very soon’’.

“No understanding has been arrived at,’’ she told a news conference in London of her negotiations with Musharraf that would see him quit as army chief and Bhutto return to become prime minister.

“I will be going back to Pakistan very soon,’’ she said, adding the date of her return will be announced in Pakistan.

Bhutto met with colleagues from her popular Pakistan People’s Party in London on Saturday to decide their next step as Musharraf weighs his options ahead of elections he hopes will return him to office for another five-year term.

Army backs Prez

Meanwhile, media reports have claimed that President Musharraf has received the support of the Army in his bid to enter into a power-sharing “deal” with former Premier Benazir Bhutto but was facing a rebellion in the rank and file of the ruling party.

Without revealing its sources in Islamabad, leading British newspaper The Daily Telegraph has reported that senior figures in the military are backing an arrangement with Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which will ensure Musharraf’s re-election and her return home to contest parliamentary polls slated for later this year.

But, the daily said that contrary to Bhutto’s claims, Musharraf had rejected accepting her demand to shed his army role before the presidential polls sometime next month as part of the “deal” because of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML)’s reservations over the ex-Premier’s demand.

Even in a report published on Saturday, a Pakistani daily has claimed that ruling party chief Shujaat Hussain conveyed the outfit’s reservations over the “deal” with the PPP to the President which forced the latter to reject Bhutto’s demand and express his desire to seek re-election in uniform.

“Hussain suggested to  Musharraf that he explore other options, including dialogue with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), in case talks with the PPP failed following which Musharraf gave a green signal to the government to contact the party as an alternative option,” The News quoted unnamed sources as saying.

UK backing

Meanwhile, for the first time since 2005, that Bhutto had a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband here on Friday.

While the chief of Pakistan People’s Party described her encounter with Miliband as “positive”, other party leaders termed it as “helpful”, The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday.

“I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with the Foreign Secretary, ” the former self-exiled Premier was quoted as saying.

Even a British Foreign Office spokesman  said: “The meeting this morning discussed the future internal political situation but it’s up to the parties themselves to negotiate the way forward.”