Bhutto set to announce return date to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto was set on Friday to announce the date of her return from self-imposed exile, adding to the political turmoil in the South Asian nation with elections looming.   

Bhutto has been in talks with embattled military ruler President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in the ‘war on terror’ who seized power in a 1999 coup, on a possible power-sharing deal.   

But progress has been slow due to Bhutto's demands that Musharraf quit as army chief and give up key powers -- as well as for an amnesty against the corruption charges that forced her abroad.   

"We are announcing the date of the return for Benazir Bhutto to Pakistan at 5:00 pm (1200 GMT)," Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.   

Pakistan People's Party vice chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim will announce it at a news conference in Islamabad.   

Pakistani authorities on Monday arrested another ex-premier, Nawaz Sharif, on corruption charges just hours after he returned from seven years in exile and deported him to Saudi Arabia.    Bhutto, the Islamic republic's first female premier who served from 1988-1990 and again from 1993-1996, has been living in London and Dubai since 1999 because she too faces graft allegations in her homeland.   

The government said it would not obstruct Bhutto's return but said that if there was no agreement on an amnesty, she would still have to face the corruption claims.   

"There is no bar on her return, she could have come back any time," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem said.   

"So long as the corruption charges are there on the books and not dropped, the law will take its own course."   

But the announcement of her return will put further pressure on Musharraf to seal a pact with her, amid mounting public opposition to his plans to be re-elected as president in uniform some time before mid-October.    

General elections are due by early 2008.   

Bhutto said last week that she wanted to meet Musharraf face-to-face after making progress in talks on the possible pact. She said that her return home would come in "weeks, not months".   

Another Pakistan People's Party official said the government had yet to respond to its suggestions for a ‘smooth transition to democracy’.   

"The talks have not reached any conclusion, there are still some issues undecided. The ball is in the government's court, the sooner it is done, the better," Wasif Syed said.   

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, a close confidant of the Pakistani leader, said "talks between President Musharraf and the PPP are on track" but did not elaborate.   

Musharraf has been embroiled in crisis since a botched attempt to sack the country's chief justice in March. He also faces a rising tide of militant violence, with a suicide bombing killing 20 elite commandos on Thursday.