BITTER TIES: General Musharraf so far has refused to let Ms Bhutto return to Pakistan before the upcoming elections.

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General Musharraf, a crucial US ally since the Sept 11 attacks, has lost so much domestic support in recent months that US officials are now backing the idea that an alliance with Ms Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister, would be his best chance of remaining president.

The two met in an unannounced session in Abu Dhabi on July 27, but neither has publicly admitted to the meeting.

Since then, many in Pakistan have heard the rumours and voiced their doubts about the workability and the political wisdom of such a deal.

But after weeks of unrest in Pakistan, US officials say that a power-sharing deal that could install Ms Bhutto as prime minister may help defuse a confrontation in which Gen Musharraf has already flirted with invoking emergency powers.

US officials have said they fear that Gen Musharraf could eventually be toppled and replaced by a leader who might be less reliable as a guardian of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and as an ally in the campaign against terrorism.

Even if Gen Musharraf were to insist on remaining as the country's military leader, US officials say that sharing power could bring a more democratic spirit to Pakistan, which has been a quasi-military dictatorship since 1999 when Gen Musharraf seized power and ousted Ms Bhutto's successor, Mr Nawaz Sharif.

Ms Bhutto has been holding talks in recent weeks with senior Bush administration officials, including Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the United Nations, whom she met privately in New York late last week.

And US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did discuss with Gen Musharraf the idea of a power-sharing deal when she telephoned him last week at 2am in Pakistan to warn him not to declare emergency powers, officials said.

Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf share a long and complicated history.

He was her chief of military operations when she was prime minister, yet he has said repeatedly that she would not be allowed to return to Pakistan before the upcoming elections.

In fact, one of the biggest obstacles to any possible deal is whether Ms Bhutto would demand that Gen Musharraf relinquish his post of army chief of staff before agreeing to a power-sharing arrangement.

She has said in the past she would demand this, but there have been suggestions in Pakistan in recent days that in order to salvage a deal, she may be willing to allow Gen Musharraf to retain his military job.

In another development, Pakistan's top judge said the brother of former premier Sharif - who is seeking the court's approval to return from exile, along with his sibling - is free to come back to the country.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry's comments, which were made from the bench during a hearing on the Sharif brothers' case, could add to Gen Musharraf's woes.

Mr Chaudhry, who survived an attempt by Gen Musharraf to have him removed from the bench, said a 2004 ruling that Mr Shahbaz Sharif, a senior official in his brother's government, could not legally be kept out of Pakistan was still in effect.

'All the authorities in the country are bound to obey the judgment of the court,' he said.

Gen Musharraf toppled Mr Sharif's elected government in a bloodless coup in 1999. Both Mr Sharif and his brother were arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate the general.

In 2000, the Sharif brothers and several members of their family left Pakistan for Saudi Arabia.

Government officials say the Sharifs left the country after striking an accord with Gen Musharraf promising to go into exile for 10 years. The Sharifs deny making such a deal.

NEW YORK TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS