Sharifs return can hamper US efforts for Musharraf-Benazir deal

The US media believes that if former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns home, then it would have a negative impact on Washingtons efforts to arrange a power-sharing deal between President Pervez Musharraf and PPP chief Benazir Bhutto.

Washington Aug 28 : The US media believes that if former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns home, then it would have a negative impact on Washington's efforts to arrange a power-sharing deal between President Pervez Musharraf and PPP chief Benazir Bhutto.

"For the Bush Administration, which has backed Musharraf as a crucial ally, Sharif's re-entry into politics would overturn its plan to prod the General to share power with Benazir Bhutto as a way of keeping him in power," The New York Times said.

According to The Washington Post, "Sharif is now poised to become Musharraf's main political adversary".

"With Musharraf faltering and Bhutto publicly considering a deal that would allow her to share power with the General, Sharif has cast himself as the only credible national leader," The Washington Post noted, adding that Sharif's "return adds another layer of pressure to Musharraf."

The Boston Globe noted that Sharif's return would also hurt Bhutto because she "has been negotiating a power-sharing deal with Musharraf" while the PML (N) leader sought the Supreme Court's help to return home.

The Los Angeles Times said: "It is not clear whether such a deal would still be in Bhutto's interest."

Daniel Markey, a senior fellow at the US Council on Foreign Relations, also said that the Bush Administration might not be very happy with Sharif's return.

"At the very least he is not a friend of the US," Markey said.

"Should Sharif end up becoming Prime Minister after general elections, America's current agreements with Musharraf-- particularly on the sharing of intelligence- would have to be renegotiated," the Dawn quoted Markey, as saying.

ANI