Pervez Musharraf has put off discussions with Benazir Bhutto on a possible power-sharing arrangement amidst reports of growing differences between the two leaders.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has put off discussions with former premier Benazir Bhutto on a possible power-sharing arrangement amidst reports of growing differences between the two leaders.
Tariq Aziz, the secretary of the National Security Council, and business magnate Iqbal Ahmed, were set to fly to Dubai on Friday to hold talks with Bhutto but put off their visit after receiving a message from the president's office in Rawalpindi, Dawn News channel quoted official sources as saying.
Aziz, who has been representing Musharraf in talks with Bhutto and her Pakistan People's Party, was to discuss the formation of a caretaker government and other matters during the proposed meeting in Dubai.
Bhutto, who survived an assassination attempt hours after she returned to Pakistan from eight years in self-exile on October 18, suddenly flew to Dubai last afternoon.
She said she was going to meet her family and ailing mother and would be back to address a planned public meeting in Rawalpindi on November 9.
Musharraf and Bhutto have held secret parleys over the past few months. Her return to Pakistan was facilitated by an ordinance issued by the beleaguered military ruler to drop all graft cases against her.
Reports have suggested that Bhutto's decision to go to Dubai had been prompted by recent statements by several senior ministers that the government would continue to pursue corruption cases against her in foreign courts, including those in Switzerland and Spain.
Bhutto's decision was also influenced by the deteriorating law and order situation. Nearly 140 people were killed in the suicide attack on Bhutto's homecoming rally and 15 people have died in two subsequent suicide bombings that targeted the armed forces.
Dawn News channel also quoted PPP sources as saying that Bhutto was unlikely to return to Pakistan till the Supreme Court gave its verdict on petitions challenging Musharraf's re-election in uniform in the October 6 presidential poll.
The channel also said that Bhutto would address the November 9 meeting in Rawalpindi on phone.
A PPP spokesman, however, told PTI that Bhutto would return before the scheduled meeting and attributed reports that she planned to stay in Dubai to 'rumour mongers'.
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