Corruption cases against former premier Benazir Bhutto will be dropped by the Pakistan government paving the way for her return from self-imposed exile for a possible power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf.

As Musharraf prepared to seek another five-year term in the October 6 Presidential elections, the controversial decision to grant amnesty to Bhutto was taken at a Cabinet meeting presided by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday.

The decision meets one of the key demands of Bhutto for the deal with embattled Musharraf and comes after months of talks between the two sides. Bhutto is due to return to Pakistan on October 18.Government officials said the move would be formalised by Musharraf in a Presidential order granting amnesty to politicians facing cases that dated from 1985 to 1999 as part of his national reconciliation drive. Officials said the amnesty would not cover another former premier Nawaz Sharif who was deported within hours of his return to Pakistan after a seven-year exile.

With government urging Bhutto, who heads the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), not to join the enmasse resignations of opposition MPs and legislators, the two-time former premier is likely to meet her party colleagues in London tomorrow on whether her party will take part in the Presidential vote.

Interestingly, the Pakistan government decision came even as the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a newspaper interview said Bhutto does hold a position in the evolving situation in Pakistan. However, she said the people would have to determine whether she is the one to lead for the restoration of democracy.

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