(Recasts with Bhutto putting off Dubai trip)

By Ovais Subhani

KARACHI, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto put off plans to fly to Dubai on Wednesday to see her family, two weeks after returning to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile, but gave no reason.

Bhutto, who survived an assassination bid by a suicide bomber who killed 139 people just after she came back home, said she may still leave on a short trip and return before a public meeting in Rawalpindi on Nov. 9.

"If I do leave, I will come back for the Rawalpindi public meeting," she told reporters in Karachi after meeting the leadership of her Pakistan People's Party. She did not explain why her original plan to fly out on Wednesday had changed.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is going through a period of intense political uncertainty and deteriorating security due to a suicide and roadside bomb campaign waged by al Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants in the northwest.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomb attack on the road leading to General Musharraf's army residence in Rawalpindi killed seven people, including the bomber.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule by Friday at the earliest whether Musharraf was eligible to stand for re-election by parliament on Oct. 6 while still army chief.

Bhutto said all parties should respect the court's decision on the legality of Musharraf's re-election.

Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, was formally elected president in an electoral college vote on Jan. 1, 2004.

Parliament is set to finish its term in mid-November, and national elections meant to return Pakistan to civilian-led democracy are due in January.

Musharraf has promised to quit the army if he remains president, and there has been talk that he could share power with Bhutto after the general election, forming a partnership the United States is believed to be quietly encouraging.

But with the uncertainty hanging over his position, the weakness of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, and the militant threat, there is speculation that Musharraf could impose emergency rule or martial law, or delay elections.

ENEMIES WITHIN

Bhutto has voiced fears that members of the establishment would try to block or rig the elections.

Her crowd-pulling ability has already been constrained by the threat of assassination, due to her stand against Islamist militancy and extremism. A suicide attack spoiled Bhutto's welcome home parade in Karachi in mid-October.

Musharraf granted an amnesty that allowed Bhutto to return to Pakistan without fear of prosecution in graft cases hanging over her from the 1990s.

Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew, is still languishing in exile in Saudi Arabia after trying to come back in September, but the government is believed to be under diplomatic pressure from Riyadh to let him return too.

The Supreme Court has already asserted that Sharif should be allowed to come back, and is delving into why his return was aborted last month.

The court is also mulling whether Musharraf had the right to grant the amnesty for Bhutto and other politicians. (Additional reporting by Imtiaz Shah)

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