WASHINGTON, Feb 25: Ms Benazir Bhutto is visiting United States next week amid reports of new political arrangements in Pakistan. She will leave Dubai on May 28.

PPP sources told Dawn that Ms Bhutto would meet senior US officials in Washington and expressed the hope that meetings would help restore democracy in Pakistan.

When her aides contacted the State Department for arranging her meetings with US officials they were told that Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca or other senior officials would be happy to meet Ms Bhutto, her party source said.

On Thursday, President Musharraf told reporters that his government was negotiating with Ms Benazir a certain arrangement on the future political setup of the country. "We need to discourage extremist elements by working with moderate political parties, including PPP, especially to have some agreement beyond 2007," he said.

Earlier this month, State Department's spokesman Richard Boucher also urged President Gen Musharraf to quit the army but said for Washington democracy in Pakistan was 'more than the (dispute over Musharraf's) uniform' and that the United States wants the next elections, scheduled in 2007, to be held in accordance with 'international standards' and with 'full participation' of all political parties.

Although opposition parties, including PPP, participated in the 2002 elections, Ms Benazir and Mr Nawaz Sharif were not allowed to return to Pakistan to campaign for their parties. Mr Nawaz was exiled to Saudi Arabia while Ms Bhutto has also been living in self-exile in Dubai and London.

President Musharraf said extremist forces were out to take the country back to the dark ages which needed to be checked with the support of all moderate political parties and forces of the country.

In Washington, PPP and PML-N are both considered moderates and diplomatic observers say that for some time Washington has been urging President Musharraf to allow the two parties to play their role in the Pakistani politics, particularly to counter religious parties who have increased their influence since the October 2001 US action in Afghanistan.

The US administration is particularly alarmed at, what it sees as, an unexpected increase in MMA's influence in the NWFP and Balochistan because provinces border Afghanistan where Washington still had more than 18,000 troops.

The Americans are particularly concerned at the possibility of religious groups taking over power in the centre in Pakistan. If that happens, Pakistan will be the first Muslim country with nuclear weapons to be ruled by religious parties. On several occasions, senior US officials have made it clear that this is a possibility they do not cherish and would like to do whatever they can to prevent it.

Despite these concerns, President Musharraf is still widely respected in Washington for joining the US-led war against terror and for providing logistic support to US forces during their Afghan operation. US officials also acknowledge that the Musharraf government handed over more 600 Al Qaeda suspects, including a dozen key operatives, to them.

Diplomatic circles in Washington believe that while the Bush administration continues to value Gen Musharraf's support, it does not want him to be isolated in Pakistan and that's why it has been urging him to allow mainstream political parties to counter growing influence of religious extremists. Policy makers in Washington believe that PPP can play a key role in this strategy.

This will be Ms Bhutto's first visit to Washington since her meeting with Mr Nawaz in Jeddah on Feb 10 when the two former premiers signed a three-point agreement for promoting democracy in Pakistan.

Political circles in Washington say that the US administration views the Bhutto-Nawaz meeting as a positive development for Pakistan which may bring some stability to Pakistani politics.

In their meeting in Jeddah, the two leaders called for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan, an independent election commission and respect for popular mandate. The two leaders also agreed to set up working groups within their respective parties to draw up a wide-ranging charter for democracy.

AMIR WASIM ADDS FROM ISLAMABAD: PPP sources told Dawn on Friday that top PPP leaders were busy in consultations at an emergency meeting at the party's central secretariat to finalise the party's conditions for holding talks with the Musharraf government before Ms Bhutto's visit to the US. The meeting was convened on the request of Ms Bhutto who wanted to get support of the local PPP leaders before holding talks with the US officials.