WASHINGTON, Aug 27: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s return could frustrate US efforts to arrange a power-sharing deal between President Pervez Musharraf and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, the US media observed.

“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.

Boston Globe, another major US newspaper, noted that Mr Sharif’s return would also hurt Ms 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 Washington Post reported that “Sharif is now poised to become Musharraf’s main political adversary”. The paper added: “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 conservative Washington Times, however, felt that Mr Sharif’s “return adds another layer of pressure to Gen Musharraf, perhaps encouraging him to secure a deal with Bhutto”.

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

In a dispatch from Islamabad, the newspaper reported that even President Musharraf’s “long-time allies have begun quietly weighing their options for a post-Musharraf era”.

Daniel Markey, a senior fellow at the US Council on Foreign Relations, while talking to reporters, indicated that the US administration might not be very happy with Mr Sharif’s return.

“At the very least he is not a friend of the US,” he said. Mr Markey noted that Nawaz Sharif drew his support more from the right of Pakistan’s politics, including the religious parties.

“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,” Mr Markey said.