Post by ۞Quaalude™۞ on Oct 17, 2007 22:37:15 GMT -5
Supporters of Pakistan's ex-PM Benazir Bhutto are gathering in Karachi in expectation of her historic return from eight years of self-imposed exile.
She is due to fly back to her homeland after entering into power-sharing talks with President Pervez Musharraf.
About 20,000 troops and police have been deployed in Karachi amid threats by Islamist militants to assassinate both Ms Bhutto and the president.
Ms Bhutto left the country soon after Gen Musharraf seized power in a coup.
She is scheduled to fly from Dubai to Karachi on Thursday.
Javed Iqbal Cheema, a Pakistani interior ministry official, said he was confident about security arrangements.
I'm sure the [provincial] government will take all possible measures to provide foolproof security arrangements which I'm told are already in place," he said.
Some 2,500 paramilitary troops have been deployed around Karachi airport alone, according to one security spokesman.
Procession
Gen Musharraf had asked Ms Bhutto to delay her return until the Supreme Court decided whether he was eligible to serve as president for another term. However, the former prime minister has stuck to Thursday as the day for her arrival.
Ms Bhutto told journalists in Dubai she was hoping that hundreds of thousands of supporters would turn out in Karachi.
Celebratory gunfire has already been heard overnight. On Thursday, schools and many roads will be closed in Pakistan's biggest city.
Authorities have tried to persuade her not to undertake a long procession through Karachi to the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, where she plans an address.
But Ms Bhutto said: "I do not believe that any true Muslim will make an attack on me because Islam forbids attacks on women and Muslims know that if they attack a woman they will burn in hell."
One supporter in Karachi, Dana Ram, told Agence France-Presse news agency: "We began walking here 12 days ago, but this is nothing compared with Benazir's sacrifices for us."
Gen Musharraf easily won a presidential vote on 6 October after opposition deputies in the national and provincial assemblies - which choose the president - either boycotted or abstained from the vote.
However, the Supreme Court said that he could not be officially declared the winner until it had finished ruling on objections to his candidacy.
The principal objection was that Gen Musharraf was not entitled to stand as president while still being head of the military.
US support
Washington has backed a power-sharing deal with Gen Musharraf which would see Ms Bhutto becoming prime minister. It has become increasingly concerned over the military's inability to defeat Islamist extremists and Gen Musharraf's rising unpopularity.
Ms Bhutto's negotiators have three main demands:
* The dropping of corruption charges against her
* The repeal of a law banning anyone from being prime minister three times, which affects both her and another ex-PM, Nawaz Sharif
* The surrender of the president's right to dissolve parliament
Gen Musharraf has so far met the first of those demands, signing an ordinance on 5 October that grants her an amnesty from the corruption charges.
However, the Supreme Court says it needs to decide if that ordinance is legal.
If it rules against it, then Ms Bhutto could face arrest and prosecution on corruption charges dating back several years.
Mr Sharif tried to return to Pakistan on 10 September.
He was arrested by the authorities as he stepped off the plane in Islamabad, charged with money-laundering and immediately put on a flight to Saudi Arabia. he he he said Bhutto QC
LOL
*ButtHead Laughs*
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7050097.stm
She is due to fly back to her homeland after entering into power-sharing talks with President Pervez Musharraf.
About 20,000 troops and police have been deployed in Karachi amid threats by Islamist militants to assassinate both Ms Bhutto and the president.
Ms Bhutto left the country soon after Gen Musharraf seized power in a coup.
She is scheduled to fly from Dubai to Karachi on Thursday.
Javed Iqbal Cheema, a Pakistani interior ministry official, said he was confident about security arrangements.
I'm sure the [provincial] government will take all possible measures to provide foolproof security arrangements which I'm told are already in place," he said.
Some 2,500 paramilitary troops have been deployed around Karachi airport alone, according to one security spokesman.
Procession
Gen Musharraf had asked Ms Bhutto to delay her return until the Supreme Court decided whether he was eligible to serve as president for another term. However, the former prime minister has stuck to Thursday as the day for her arrival.
Ms Bhutto told journalists in Dubai she was hoping that hundreds of thousands of supporters would turn out in Karachi.
Celebratory gunfire has already been heard overnight. On Thursday, schools and many roads will be closed in Pakistan's biggest city.
Authorities have tried to persuade her not to undertake a long procession through Karachi to the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, where she plans an address.
But Ms Bhutto said: "I do not believe that any true Muslim will make an attack on me because Islam forbids attacks on women and Muslims know that if they attack a woman they will burn in hell."
One supporter in Karachi, Dana Ram, told Agence France-Presse news agency: "We began walking here 12 days ago, but this is nothing compared with Benazir's sacrifices for us."
Gen Musharraf easily won a presidential vote on 6 October after opposition deputies in the national and provincial assemblies - which choose the president - either boycotted or abstained from the vote.
However, the Supreme Court said that he could not be officially declared the winner until it had finished ruling on objections to his candidacy.
The principal objection was that Gen Musharraf was not entitled to stand as president while still being head of the military.
US support
Washington has backed a power-sharing deal with Gen Musharraf which would see Ms Bhutto becoming prime minister. It has become increasingly concerned over the military's inability to defeat Islamist extremists and Gen Musharraf's rising unpopularity.
Ms Bhutto's negotiators have three main demands:
* The dropping of corruption charges against her
* The repeal of a law banning anyone from being prime minister three times, which affects both her and another ex-PM, Nawaz Sharif
* The surrender of the president's right to dissolve parliament
Gen Musharraf has so far met the first of those demands, signing an ordinance on 5 October that grants her an amnesty from the corruption charges.
However, the Supreme Court says it needs to decide if that ordinance is legal.
If it rules against it, then Ms Bhutto could face arrest and prosecution on corruption charges dating back several years.
Mr Sharif tried to return to Pakistan on 10 September.
He was arrested by the authorities as he stepped off the plane in Islamabad, charged with money-laundering and immediately put on a flight to Saudi Arabia. he he he said Bhutto QC
LOL
*ButtHead Laughs*
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7050097.stm