Bhutto reluctant to "save" Pakistan's Musharraf

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto said she would risk reaching a deal to help President Pervez Musharraf get re-elected only if it ensured fair parliamentary elections were held on time, according to a British newspaper report.

Several Pakistani newspapers carried stories on Monday about the Sunday Times interview with Bhutto, who has been in talks with Musharraf's emissaries for months about the possibility of arranging some kind of deal with elections due later this year.

She said Musharraf was weakened by the Supreme Court's decision last Friday to reinstate a chief justice the president had suspended four months earlier.

"He has lost his moral authority. His popularity rates are down and it would be very unpopular if we saved him. We would lose votes by being associated with him," Bhutto told the Sunday Times.

The newspaper said "the only circumstances in which she might still consider an arrangement would be if she felt it was necessary to guarantee fair parliamentary elections on time".

Musharraf hopes to be re-elected by the current assemblies in September or October, and is constitutionally obliged to give up his role as army chief by year-end, while parliamentary elections are expected by December of January.

Rivals are expected to mount constitutional challenges to Musharraf being elected by the same assembly twice, and to his being elected while still holding his army post.

Musharraf has repeatedly ruled out imposing a state of emergency, but rivals fear he might still resort to it to extend his rule in view of the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Pakistan has been gripped by terror this month following a spate of revenge attacks by Islamist militants after the army's assault on Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, to crush a Taliban-style movement.