Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has let it be known that she now considers Musharraf a lost cause and will refuse to negotiate any further with him:

Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday demanded President General Pervez Musharraf quit as president as well as chief of army staff because he was no longer acceptable to her with or without uniform.

Bhutto, talking to the media via a phone call from Senator Latif Khosa’s residence, where she has been put under a seven-day house arrest, said Musharraf was unacceptable after taking so many unconstitutional steps.

“I won’t serve as prime minister under him because he has repeatedly broken his promises,” she said. Bhutto said that her talks with Musharraf were aimed at a smooth democratic transition, but after the proclamation of emergency she could not hold any further talks with him.

Qazi told Benazir independent efforts in the prevailing situation would only damage the opposition’s cause, a JI leader said. He also urged Benazir to hold an APC under the joint banner of the ARD and the APDM to chalk out a strategy, the leader said. Benazir assured Qazi her party had ended all contact with the government and that she was ready to cooperate with opposition. staff report

President General Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday that former premier Benazir Bhutto had no right to ask him to resign as president as well as chief of army staff. In an interview with the New York Times, Musharraf vigorously defended his declaration of emergency rule, insisting that it would not interfere with the holding of transparent elections. Rejecting an appeal by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to lift emergency rule, he said, “I totally disagree with her.” General Musharraf was critical of Bhutto, saying she was confrontational and would be difficult to work with. Musharraf complained about her conduct since her return a month ago, saying: “You come here on supposedly on a reconciliatory mode, and right before you land, you’re on a confrontationist mode. I am afraid this is producing negative vibes, negative optics.”