PAKISTAN: Pakistani minister for information says power-sharing talks including Pakistan People's Party are underway

Power-sharing talks between Pakistan's embattled President Pervez Musharraf and other political parties including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's party are underway, the country's minister for information said on Sunday (September 2). Mohammed Ali Durrani told a news conference the government was in contact with various parties, Bhutto's People's Party and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of Islamist parties. With his popularity plummeting and challenges to his rule mounting, Musharraf must line up support and he has turned to Bhutto for help to broaden his base. Bhutto has insisted an agreement would hinge on Musharraf stepping down as chief of the army, which has ruled for more than half Pakistan's history since independence in 1947. Bhutto also wants immunity from prosecution for herself and others who served in the late 1980s and 1990s. Many members of Musharraf's ruling Pakistan Muslim League are alarmed at the prospect of their old rival Bhutto returning to take power from them. Some members of Bhutto's party also doubt the wisdom of striking a deal with Musharraf, which they say would prop up a failing dictator. With doubts growing about a deal with Bhutto, Musharraf is considering trying to secure the support of conservative Islamic parties.

ITN Source | September 3, 2007

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