BB blasts Mush..Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto vowed on Friday she would contest the October elections despite a ban by the government, which she accused of close links with militant groups such as al-Qaeda.
Benazir Bhutto told Reuters that military hard-liners in Pakistan had helped al-Qaeda regroup in her homeland. She alleged the organisation - blamed for last September's attacks on the United States - might be planning to unleash fresh terror on the world.
"I think General (Pervez) Musharraf's regime has strong links with terrorist groups like al-Qaeda," she said in an interview. "In one year al-Qaeda have regrouped in Pakistan with the backing of military hard-liners."
Bhutto said she was worried international attention had been focused on Afghanistan, where US forces continue to search for al-Qaeda members, and not on what was happening across the border in her country.
"Musharraf has successfully convinced London and Washington that he is the best person to combat terrorism," she said.
Benazir told Reuters at her London home, where she lives in self-imposed exile, she would appeal to Pakistan's election tribunal and, if necessary, the high court. "I am going to continue fighting," she said, adding she would consider returning to Pakistan if she could get her name on the ballot, even though she faces arrest on corruption charges.
Benazir said she believed military hard-liners felt threatened by her. "I have a popular base as my father had a popular base," she said. She said she would return home sooner rather than later. "I can contest the election from prison," she said. |
