She told Newsweek: 'We got on well by talking. He's very easy to talk to -- I was quite surprised, compared to my first (army) chief of staff. He acknowledges what you are saying -- he doesn't ignore what you say. Talking to him was easy, our negotiations were continuing, but the crux had not happened. The crux was fair elections.'

'He told me during our negotiations in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) that he would lift it (the ban). Then he went back on (his promise) in August. After that, we had a confidential agreement on this, which I was allowed to share with my party. Then I returned (to Pakistan) and blamed some of the people in the government for (the bomb blast that almost killed her), and he didn't like it. I said I had a right to ask for an independent investigation, which I have not gotten.'

On General Zia-ul Haq, the president of Pakistan, who hanged her father

To rediff.com: 'What is now known is that after defeating the Soviet Union, Zia wanted to defeat America. Everyone in Pakistan used to say, 'Amrika nay ek kutta pala, Zia-ul Haq uska nala.' They used to say this and what people don't realise is that in Pakistan at the mass level Zia was so abused that it was all for the nuclear programme, this was because he was an American dog. They used to call him 'Amrika ka kutta', they never called him by his actual name.

He tried to tell everybody that he was not doing it for America, but for Islam and after defeating the Soviet Union he was going to defeat America and make Islam the greatest power in the world'.

Photograph: General Pervez Musharraf takes his final salute as army chief in 2007 before handing over the reins of Pakistan's army to General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Also read: Benazir's hopes for Pakistan

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