WASHINGTON, March 6: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has indicated that she may soften her opposition to President Pervez Musharraf's dual role in the government if the government also shows flexibility in its attitude towards the opposition.

"No president in uniform as of now that stance is still there," said Ms Bhutto when asked at a Saturday evening press conference if she would accept a president in uniform if there's an understanding with the government.

But she said that from political prisoners to early elections, the government has shown no flexibility on any issue and "there has been no development to make us change our stance".

Asked to describe her contacts with the government she said it was "an engagement, not an agreement" and the talks were poised somewhere between "an engagement and an agreement."

Asked at what level were the two sides talking to each other, Ms Bhutto said these were "limited and not frequent engagements".

Throughout the two-hour long news conference, Ms Bhutto maintained a reconciliatory attitude towards the government, indicating that she was looking for some space in the current political dispensation of Pakistan.

She also was careful not to make comments that might hurt the current backdoor contacts with the government which she hopes will lead to the possible participation of political parties in the next elections.

Referring to a recent statement by the US Department of State urging the Pakistan government to ensure "full participation" of all political parties in the 2007 elections, Ms Bhutto emphasized that the elections would have to be free and fair and votes counted immediately.

Ms Bhutto rejected media reports suggested that she had come to Washington to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior officials of the Bush administration. "I came to meet my friends, both in the Pakistani community and outside," she said. When a reporter interpreted her statement as indicating that she had not met US officials, she said: "I have met my friends."

But political observers in Washington noted that during her visit, the US administration had tried not to make her feel unwelcome. But they also were unwilling to raise the level of their contacts with Ms Bhutto as it would have annoyed the Musharraf government.

Ms Bhutto was equally cautious in conveying her disappointment. She said she believed "the doctrine of democracy" that President Bush presented in his second inaugural speech was for the whole world, including Pakistan. "Its credibility is in its universality. If there are exceptions, it will hurt the credibility."

She suggested that the US aid to Pakistan should be linked to the restoration of democracy because she believed the United States would be better off working with a democratically elected government in Pakistan.

"Instead of a person, the United States will be allied to a system, to a parliament," said Ms Bhutto while explaining what differences a change of government in Pakistan could bring to US-Pakistan relations.

"There have already been two attempts on Gen Musharraf, nobody wants a third attempt on him but this is a possibility that cannot be ruled out," she said while explaining why she believed the US would be better off working with an elected government.

She appeared very comfortable and confident and handled the questions very tactfully, switching from Urdu to English and back to Urdu in search of politically potent phrases and sound bites. "Yeh, deal naheen dheel hai," said Ms Bhutto in Urdu when a reporter asked her to describe her talks with the government. "When people don't have rights, when the government controls everything, there are no deals. They give you some dheel (relaxation) whenever they feel like doing so."

She said her talks with the government were like India-Pakistan negotiations. "Kabhi bus chal parti hai, kabhi naheen chalti," said Ms Bhutto while referring to the Lahore-Delhi bus service.

Ms Bhutto said that Nawaz Sharif and she were not the only Pakistanis living in exile, there were others too and "all such people should be allowed to return home".