Bhutto prepared to meet Musharraf amid deal progress

ISLAMABAD: 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 said after the stalled negotiations restarted this week, adding that the progress was 'good.'

"I prefer face-to-face negotiations but between him and myself, 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.