The United States is quietly pushing President Pervez Musharraf to share power with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, The New York Times reported in Thursday editions, citing US and Pakistani officials.
Musharraf, who is preparing to seek a second term in office, is facing a deepening political crisis that had him on the brink of declaring a state of emergency last week.
US officials believe that an alliance with Bhutto could give Musharraf his best chance of defusing the domestic crisis and remaining as president, the newspaper reported, citing officials who asked not be identified.
Bush administration officials have said they fear that Musharraf could eventually be toppled and replaced by someone who might be less a less reliable US ally against terrorism, the Times said. US and Pakistani officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the idea of a power-sharing arrangement when she called Musharraf last week to warn him not to declare emergency powers, the newspaper reported.
The report also said that Bhutto had been holding talks in recent weeks with senior Bush administration officials, including UN ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. US officials say that the complexity of Pakistani politics makes it difficult to predict what shape a political deal could take, the Times reported.
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