Bhutto calls on Musharraf to quit as she's put under house arrest again

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto called Tuesday for Pakistan's president to resign after she was placed under house arrest for the second time in five days.

A Pakistani police officer guards a Benazir Bhutto supporter locked up in the back of a police truck after he was arrested Tuesday outside the home in Lahore where the opposition leader is being held under house arrest.
(David Guttenfelder/Associated Press)

Bhutto was trapped in a padlocked house in Lahore surrounded by thousands of riot police, a row of metal barricades topped with barbed wire and vehicles loaded with sand to prevent her from leading a protest march to the capital Islamabad. She was served Monday with a seven-day detention order.

Speaking in a telephone interview from the house, Bhutto told a private TV network that President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is a "hurdle in the way of democracy" and should resign as army chief and president.

"Musharraf should leave both the offices," she said, adding that an "interim government of national consensus" should be set up to supervise the January parliamentary elections.

The former prime minister said she would no longer be interested in serving as prime minister under Musharraf and plans to work on forging a broad alliance with other opposition parties.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan on Oct. 18 after eight years of self-imposed exile, with many expecting her to form a pro-U.S. alliance with Musharraf against Islamic extremism ahead of the upcoming election.

Since Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3, though, Bhutto has accused the president of enacting martial law and has repeatedly called for him to give up his army post. 

Her latest comment appears to bury hope of the two working together.

CBC reporter Adrienne Arsenault said the strong words against Musharraf are expected to please opposition parties who may now be more willing to work with Bhutto if talks have broken off between the two.

PPP may boycott elections

Bhutto also said her party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, will likely boycott the January elections and ruled out serving another term as prime minister under Musharraf.

"I simply won't be able to believe anything he said to me," she told reporters by telephone.

A supporter of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto pushes away a police officer's baton as she is shoved with fellow protesters into a police van as they are arrested Tuesday in Lahore.
(David Guttenfelder/Associated Press)

Opposition parties have questioned whether the restrictions imposed by the military leader, such as those on the independent media and bans on rallies, would make it difficult to hold a fair parliamentary vote.

As political uncertainty deepens, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is en route to Pakistan for a pre-planned trip, part of a regular strategic dialogue with the country, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton. Negroponte is expected to reiterate Washington's call for an end to the state of emergency.

Police thwart march to Islamabad

As Pakistani police kept Bhutto inside what they dubbed a "sub-jail," some of her supporters defied authorities by trying to lead a convoy of vehicles from Lahore to Islamabad.

The column of 200 vehicles was halted about one-third of the way along its planned 280-kilometre route, said Shah Mahmood Qureshi, president of Bhutto's party for Punjab.

Hundreds of people were detained in the massive security operation mounted by Pakistani police, said Qureshi.

Some supporters, including several legislators, who approached the barricades were also detained.

When Bhutto was asked whether she might be deported, she responded, "I will prefer to live in jails here rather than being taken abroad. I will not leave my people even if I am arrested."

Ex-PM to be part of coalition: Bhutto

Bhutto said once she is freed from detention, she will work to unite all opposition parties and she had already contacted other groups to set up a "coalition of interests" against Musharraf.

That alliance would include fellow former prime minister and longtime rival Nawaz Sharif who shares her wish to end military rule, Bhutto said.

Sharif was ousted by Musharraf in the 1999 bloodless coup that brought the general to power. Sharif tried to return to Pakistan in September but was immediately deported.

Sharif told the Associated Press from Saudi Arabia, where he is in exile, that he believed the opposition was "beginning to get together."

Musharraf has said he imposed emergency rule to fight growing extremism. The move came ahead of a Supreme Court decision on whether his recent re-election for a new presidential term was legal.

Critics say the emergency rule, which resulted in the suspension of the constitution and ousting of most judges, was a tactic to remain in power.

While Musharraf initially said general elections planned for January would be delayed, he later agreed to hold them as planned, though he signalled on Sunday that he wants to hold the vote with the emergency restrictions in place. 

With files from the Associated Press