Evidence is emerging of the depth of British and US involvement in a deal that helped General Perves Musharraf to retain office as the Pakistani president after his controversial election victory on Saturday.
The Independent paper says Britain and the US were involved in crucial pre-election horse-trading to allow the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, to return to Pakistan and seek a third term as prime minister.
It reports that diplomats from both countries urged opponents of Ms Bhutto to show restrain when she returns to Pakistan in ten days.
Writing in the Times, Bronwen Maddox describes US and British backing of a Musharraf-Bhutto power sharing deal as shortsighted. "It is suppressing the democratic politics Pakistan needs," she says, adding that it gives "strength to religious fundamentalists."
* This is an edited extract from the Wrap, our digest of the daily papers.
