Bhutto says talks with Pakistan's Musharraf stalled

By Adrian Croft and Kamran Haider

LONDON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Saturday talks on a power sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf had stalled but she would return to Pakistan within weeks even without agreement.

"No understanding has been arrived at," she told a crowded news conference in London about her negotiations with Musharraf that would see him quit as army chief and stand for re-election as president, and Bhutto return to become prime minister.

She said talks between her party and envoys sent by Musharraf had been 80 percent successful "but matters appear to have stalled following resistance by members of the ruling party."

She said the Musharraf delegation had returned to Pakistan for consultations. Asked if talks on a deal could resume, she replied: "This is a question you need to put to them."

Pakistan, a nuclear power on the front line of the West's fight against al Qaeda, is facing the risk of turmoil as Musharraf plots his course and former exiled prime ministers Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif prepare to return home.

Bhutto, who has corruption charges hanging over her and could be detained upon her arrival back in Pakistan, said her party would announce the date of her return at press conferences in Pakistan on September 14.

"I plan to return to Pakistan in the next few weeks to work for a moderate, democratic Pakistan that is free from the threat of terrorism and which can address the basic needs of its people," she told Reuters Television.

"I feel the stage is set for the restoration of democracy and I hope to go back to play my part," she told reporters after meeting colleagues from her popular Pakistan People's Party.