ISLAMABAD, 29 July 2007 — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf held secret talks with opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a government minister said yesterday, amid reports of a power-sharing deal.
Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the president and Benazir “held a successful meeting” in Abu Dhabi on Friday, confirming earlier media reports.
He would not elaborate on the discussions between the two leaders, but said “hopefully” Benazir’s Pakistan Peoples Party, the largest opposition group in the country, would support Musharraf in an upcoming presidential vote.
Earlier, minister for information and broadcasting, Muhammad Ali Durrani. Had denied reports of Musharraf meeting with Benazir.
“The government has kept its door open for talks with anyone but no such meeting (between Musharraf and Benazir) has taken place,” Muhammad Ali Durrani said.
Pakistani television and newspapers reported yesterday that Friday’s meeting between the two leaders lasted about one hour and ended without an agreement.
Those reports come amid intense speculation that Musharraf would seek Bhutto as an ally in his plans to seek reappointment from legislators for another term.
Raza Rabbani, the deputy secretary of Benazir’s group, said party officials in Islamabad had no confirmation of the meeting.
The plans face constitutional hurdles that weaken the hand of Musharraf, an army general who seized power in 1999 and who is a key US ally in the fight against terrorism.
The talks faltered when Benazir refused to agree to support Musharraf if he did not resign from the military, Geo television reported, citing unnamed sources.
Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, a junior minister in the coalition government that backs Musharraf, said it appeared the two leaders were trying to strike a deal to secure another term for the general while paving the way for Benazir to return to Pakistan to become prime minister.
For Benazir to do so, the government would have to change part of the constitution that prohibits anyone from taking the post of prime minister more than twice.
“If something like this develops and there is a compromise, it is in the interest of the people of Pakistan. I am in favor of such things,” said Niazi, a former member of Benazir’s party.
Benazir served as prime minister twice in the 1980s and 1990s, but fled the country to avoid corruption charges after her second government collapsed.
Back-channel talks between envoys for the two leaders have been reported for months, and a face-to-face meeting between the two could indicate the sides are close to a deal.
Musharraf has kept a low profile since the Supreme Court ended his bid to fire its chief justice, seen as a major setback to his plans to win a new five-year presidential term from lawmakers this fall.
The downturn in political fortunes comes amid a surge in attacks since an army assault on the pro-Taleban Red Mosque in Islamabad killed at least 102 people. A controversial security deal with tribal leaders on the Afghan border to contain Taleban and Al-Qaeda forces has also collapsed.
With US pressure mounting on Musharraf to do more to stop extremists in the border region, Benazir, whose party is Pakistan’s largest opposition group, has been positioning herself as a champion of democracy and anti-terrorist campaigner.
In an interview with The Associated Press in London earlier this month, Benazir attacked Musharraf’s record of fighting Islamic extremism, but left open the possibility of returning to the country while he was still president.
She said before she returns, the president will have to give up the power to sack the prime minister and dissolve parliament and show free and fair elections can be held.
If he wanted to remain president, Musharraf must also give up his role as army chief, she said.
