US, UK want Bhutto to go easier on Musharraf deal

Officials want her to revise her demands. Dubai is the next venue for stalled talks

LAHORE: Alarmed at the collapse of the Musharraf-Bhutto power sharing parleys, international mediators have become active to salvage the almost-failed deal, with President General Pervez Musharraf complaining that too many demands raised by PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto actually led to the failure of the talks.

Well-placed diplomatic sources in Islamabad have claimed that after her press conference in London, announcing that her power sharing talks with Musharraf have failed, the PPP chairperson has come under mounting pressure from the international mediators - the United States and United Kingdom. They have been told by Musharraf aides that she demanded too much from him during the talks.

The deal was almost finalised, but collapsed at the eleventh hour when the PPP chairperson demanded - in return of her party's support to the General's re-election - Musharraf's shedding of uniform, quashing of a constitutional clause empowering the president to dismiss the prime minister and dissolve assemblies, suspension of local governments and repeal of a law depriving a person of being elected as PM for the third term.

The sources said the moderators from the US and UK, who were playing their role as guarantors of the deal, have pressed Bhutto to revise her demands and soften her stance to reach an agreement. American and British officials involved in the dialogue have been told by Musharraf aides that few of Bhutto's demands, which came up out of blue, were illogical and unacceptable. 

Bhutto's meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Milliband last Friday in London was one of the series of such efforts. The stalled talks on the deal are expected to resume later this week, with the venue moving to Dubai.