Musharraf-Bhutto power deal collapses

"It is finished. The President said 'no'," says an official.

The much-touted power-sharing deal between Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto has collapsed over her demand that prime ministers must be allowed a third term, a minister considered close to the General has said.

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"It is finished. The President said 'no'. If you insist, there are very thin chances of salvaging it - just 1 or 2 per cent," Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad was quoted by 'Dawn' today as saying.

"May be some last-minute attempt is made ... To salvage the deal. But personally I am not at all hopeful, the reason being Bhutto's insistence that Prime Ministers must be allowed a third term," he said.