WASHINGTON, Aug 5: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto said on Sunday she believed that a power sharing deal with President Gen Pervez Musharraf could work if he ceded sufficient power to parliament.

While Ms Bhutto would not confirm reports that she had met Gen Musharraf in Abu Dhabi last month for secret talks on a possible deal, she said that she had been negotiating directly with officials from the Musharraf government.

She also hinted that contacts took place that she was not yet willing to describe.“The presidency has said that there are no direct contacts and we haven’t officially admitted such contacts,” she told CNN.

“There are certain issues which, under the code under which they took place, are deemed to be private, so I would like to confine myself to just saying that there have been contacts between the military regime and the Pakistan People’s Party, including myself and that we have been trying to search for a solution that could take Pakistan peacefully towards a democratic set-up. I think it is important that the talks succeed. But we haven’t reached there just yet,” Ms Bhutto said.

Asked whether she could overcome disagreements with President Musharraf to work with him, she said: “If the people of Pakistan gave me a mandate, yes, but there would need to be a balance between the powers of the presidency and the powers of parliament.”

Reiterating that President Musharraf should give up his post as the country’s military leader under any deal, she said: “I don’t think that (the idea) is realistic because when the president of a country also wears a uniform it blurs the distinction between democracy and military rule.”

“I think it is very important for General Musharraf to take off the uniform … There are many issues to be discussed: whether the elections are going to be fair; whether the reforms are going to be implemented; whether restrictive bans on the prime minister being elected a third time are going to be lifted,” she said.

“I still believe if we can get an agreement for a smooth transfer of power and get a balance of power between the presidency and the parliament, we would be able to come up with a situation where we can undermine terrorism and address the real needs of the people, which I believe are now being neglected.”

She also expressed doubts about President Musharraf’s willingness to ensure a fair election.

“My concern is that if the elections are rigged, there will public protests, and certainly the extremists will try to take advantage by creating anarchy and chaos … And Pakistan can’t afford that, not with the threat within and the threat the extremists are using our territory, imposing on Afghanistan.”

Ms Bhutto, meanwhile, objected to the idea that US forces might attack suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban bases inside Pakistan without Islamabad’s approval.

“I don’t think it would be right to violate Pakistan’s sovereignty by unauthorised military action. But I do believe that Pakistan and the United States and Nato and Afghanistan must work … together in restoring law and order to the tribal badlands in Pakistan which are undermining Pakistan’s standing in the international community, giving rise to a threat to Pakistan’s internal well-being as well as aggravating our relations with nearby Afghanistan. We cannot tolerate people using our soil to mount attacks on Nato troops in Afghanistan.” –Agencies

Masood Haider adds from New York: Benazir Bhutto said: “I do not know whether I will be free to move about when I return to Pakistan.”

She said that her lawyers had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, seeking freedom of movement after her return.

Referring to the issue of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan’s purported links with nuclear proliferation network, the PPP leader said: “I will initiate a parliamentary inquiry on the issue to get real facts.” She said she believed that Dr Qadeer Khan was not alone in selling nuclear secrets, adding that Dr Khan was “not the only Pakistani scientist working on nuclear technology”.

“We will take the issue to the Supreme Court,” she said at a press conference when asked about her reaction to the ruling party’s plans to get President Musharraf re-elected in uniform by the present assemblies.

She said since the release of PML-N leader Javed Hashmi, she had full confidence in the Supreme Court and its judges and expected “just and judicious decisions” from them.

Reiterating that talks “with the highest officials” of the government would continue till a final conclusion, she urged the people to trust her and said that any agreement or deal would be “revealed to all parties and there will be no secrets between PPP and the people of Pakistan … We … we will never leave your side”.

She said that she would return to Pakistan by the end of the year and take part in the elections, including presidential and parliamentary, “if I am allowed”.