Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto will return to Pakistan on October 18 after living in self-imposed exile for eight years, her party announced here today.

54-year-old Bhutto, who twice served as Prime Minister, will land in the southern port city of Karachi, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Vice President of her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), told reporters.

The PPP’s announcement came four days after deposed premier Nawaz Sharif was deported to Jeddah within hours of his arrival here to end his seven-year exile in an attempt to challenge the rule of President Pervez Musharraf.

Bhutto, who has been living in self-exile in Dubai and London since 1999, last month held a meeting with General Musharraf in Abu Dhabi on a possible power-sharing arrangement. The talks between the two sides were reportedly stalled after Benazir Bhutto insisted that the bar on a person serving as prime minister for more than two terms be lifted.

Bhutto, who was prime minister from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996, faces graft charges in Pakistan.

She had last year signed a ‘Charter of Democracy’ with Sharif in which they both had vowed not to deal with the military rulers. She came in for severe criticism by Sharif for her talks with the Musharraf regime.