Bhutto says talks with Musharraf stalled

LONDON: Talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf aimed a reaching a power-sharing deal have "totally stalled", the country's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Wednesday.   

Speaking to reporters in London, the self-exiled Bhutto said a government announcement that corruption charges against her had been dropped was "disinformation" on the part of the Pakistani authorities.   

"He's not prepared to give a level playing-field. We want to see Pakistan move from dictatorship towards democracy," Bhutto said of Musharraf.   

Bhutto, 54, plans to return to Pakistan on Oct. 18 after eight years' absence, to contest a parliamentary election which is due by mid-January. Her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is currently the largest opposition party.   

Musharraf, a close US ally and leader of the only nuclear-armed Islamic nation, looks set to win re-election on Saturday in votes by the two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies.