ISLAMABAD, May 4: Benazir Bhutto said on Friday she might reach some political deal with President Pervez Musharraf, but he should quit his role as army chief to foster true democracy.

Pakistan has been rife with speculation in recent weeks that Mr Musharraf and Ms Bhutto were overcoming their mutual distrust to forge a common front against conservative forces ahead of a general election later this year.

“We admit there are contacts because we want transparency, but we don’t say the deal has been done,” she told reporters in Dubai in a telecast carri-ed by Pakistani networks on Friday.

Ms Bhutto said previous contacts had come to nothing, but added: “This time, there might be a deal and there might not be a deal.”

However, she insisted President Musharraf should fulfil his commitment to step down as army chief by the end of 2007 before any deal could be reached.

“A president in uniform and democracy cannot go together ... we want military to go back to barracks,” Ms Bhutto said.

—Reuters