Pakistan's Bhutto says talks with Musharraf stalled

"Most probably," she said when asked if that would be the decision. "I think that the resignation of the Pakistan Peoples Party MPs will be a severe blow to the legitimacy of the presidential elections," she told reporters in London.

Parliament and provincial assemblies are expected on Saturday to re-elect Musharraf as president.

More than 80 opposition members of parliament have resigned in protest against his standing for re-election while army chief.

Although the PPP is the largest opposition faction it is not in a position to stop his re-election. But it could damage the credibility of the process if it boycotted the vote.

"We don't want to resign. We don't want to take this step, but certainly we are being pushed into taking this step by the inability of the present regime to move towards the democratization of Pakistan," Bhutto said.

A meeting of PPP members in London ended later on Wednesday without comment. But Bhutto said it would resume on Thursday and would be followed by a news conference at 1100 GMT (7 a.m. EDT).

Bhutto, who plans to return to Pakistan on October 18 after eight years of exile, accused the military leader of failing to deliver on promises of a return to democracy.

"The Peoples Party is not in the business of saving military dictatorships. We want to save democracy," Bhutto, 54, said.

NUCLEAR NATION