Pakistan ? Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said Wednesday that President Pervez Musharraf had agreed to step down as army chief in a deal that could keep him in power and restore her from exile to political leadership here.

In a telephone interview from London, Bhutto told The Associated Press that Musharraf had decided “to listen to the people of Pakistan by taking the decision to take off the uniform” and become solely a civilian leader. She added that it would be up to the president to announce when he would give up his military post, but that she expected it to happen before a presidential election due later this year.

There was no immediate confirmation from Musharraf, a key U.S. ally whose controversial dual role has come under intensified criticism over the past several months.