Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto on Wednesday said there had been progress in talks on a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf and that she was ready to meet him face to face.

The two-time prime minister added that she would return home from self-exile on corruption charges in London and Dubai in “weeks, not months”, ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections due in coming months.

“There has been progress in some areas and we are working on those areas,” she told AFP in a telephone interview after the stalled negotiations restarted this week, adding that the progress was “good”.

“I prefer face-to-face negotiations (but) between him and me. I also appreciate that he has got a country to run and that might be very difficult,” she said when asked if she would meet the military ruler.

Talks held in London last week between aides of Bhutto and Musharraf ended in deadlock, with the ex-premier saying that she would announce a date for her return on September 14.

But the negotiations restarted in the Gulf emirate of Dubai this week.

Asked when she now planned to fly back to Pakistan, which she left in 1998, Bhutto said that it would be “weeks, not months”.

Bhutto said one of the key issues in the negotiations — whether Musharraf will quit his role as Army Chief ahead of his bid to be re-elected as President in September or October — was “resolved”. She did not elaborate.

The main progress in this week’s talks was on the issue of “free and fair elections”, Bhutto said.

However, Nawaz Sharif’s intention to return to Pakistan was criticised on Tuesday night by Saudi Arabia, the country that gave him shelter after he was toppled.

“Wisdom dictates that Nawaz Sharif abide by his promises not to return to Pakistan and to political activity,” said an unnamed spokesman quoted by the state-run SPA news agency.

SC to Gen: Uniform or presidency?
Islamabad, PTI: Embattled President Pervez Musharraf, who plans to seek re-election in uniform, faced a fresh challenge on Wednesday when the Supreme Court asked his legal adviser to clarify when the military dictator’s dual office was ending.

A seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry asked Musharraf’s legal adviser Sharifuddin Pirzada to enquire from the President when his dual office period would come to an end and inform the apex court, the Geo TV reported.

One of the bench members, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, even remarked during the hearing that in his opinion, the President could not hold two offices “after the period ends”.

Later, the hearing was put off until Thursday.

In fact, the court was hearing a petition which was recently filed by the chief of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who said Musharraf illegally continued as the Army Chief despite attaining the age of superannuation in August, 2003.

The petitioner contended thatPresident Pervez Musharraf was no longer eligible to continue in the post after turning 60 in August 2003 and that he broke a public pledge in 2004 to shed his military uniform.
The General could not himself extend his tenure of the service, he said in his petition.