• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Progress Seen in Musharraf-Bhutto Talks

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 September 2007, 12:06 CDT

By STEPHEN GRAHAM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Talks between exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and envoys of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on holding free and fair elections in Pakistan made progress Tuesday, both sides said.

The United States is pressing Musharraf, one its key allies, for a broader-based government that can strengthen Pakistan's efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaida, and Tuesday's talks came the same day as two suicide bombers attacked a bus filled with government workers and a commercial area near the Pakistani capital, killing at least 25 people.

Bhutto's party spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said the negotiations, part of a long-running dialogue on a power-sharing deal between the two rivals, were held in Dubai, and that further sessions would be held.

Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani also confirmed progress: "The dialogue is going on, and it will continue and progress has been made in it today."

A deal could shore up a troubled bid by the U.S.-allied president to prolong his eight years in power, while allowing the opposition leader to return to Pakistan and contest parliamentary elections.

Babar said Bhutto, who traveled from London to Dubai, and two senior officials from her Pakistan People's Party took part in the talks. He declined to identify Musharraf's aides.

Speaking on Dawn News television, Babar said the two sides made progress on elections but that issues including Musharraf's dual role as president and army chief were still unresolved.

He also reported no progress on the balance of power between the presidency and parliament, and that the two sides had yet to discuss constitutional amendments.

Experts say the constitution must be changed to avoid legal problems surrounding Musharraf's eligibility for a new term as president and to allow Bhutto to seek a third term as prime minister. Such changes would require the backing of both Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the ruling coalition.

"Some progress was made, for which dialogue will continue," Babar said.

Musharraf has dominated Pakistani politics since seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and became a key U.S. ally after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but his authority has waned since a botched attempt in March to fire Pakistan's top judge triggered protests and widespread calls for an end to military rule. Militants, meanwhile, have pressed their campaign of violence both in the Afghan border region and elsewhere in Pakistan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions Tuesday, but officials suggested they were the work of militants, possibly in response to Pakistani military operations near the Afghan border.

The first explosion devastated the bus as it traveled through a high-security area of Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of Islamabad and the headquarters of the army.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said the vehicle belonged to the Defense Ministry and was carrying employees of various government departments. He denied reports that the bus was carrying intelligence agency staff, but provided no further details on the victims.

Arif Sultan, who survived the bus attack, told AP Television News that the bomb exploded when the vehicle was waiting in traffic, filling it with flames.

"The roof of the bus was blown away. Pieces of other people's flesh hit my head and covered my clothes," he said from a city hospital bed, where he was being treated for a minor head injury.

He declined to say who he worked for.

As ambulances transported victims from the bus blast, a second bomb carried on a motorcycle went off in a nearby commercial district, killing several more people, said Zainul Haq, a city police official. Two military caps were visible inside one of several cars badly damaged in the second explosion.

A pact with Bhutto could include amendments to the constitution to pre-empt expected legal challenges to Musharraf's eligibility to contest presidential election due between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15.

But leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, who could be sidelined by any agreement with Bhutto, have said she is demanding too much in return.

Both Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, another exiled former premier, have vowed to return, with or without the government's blessing, and contest general elections due by January 2008.

Sharif, who was jailed and later sent to Saudi Arabia after Musharraf toppled his government, has announced he will return Sept. 10, despite threats that he could be re-arrested.

Bhutto, who fled corruption allegations in 1999, said she will return in the coming weeks, but has set no date.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

More News in this Category