ISLAMABAD, 16 October 2007 — Pakistan ratcheted up pressure on Benazir Bhutto yesterday to delay her planned homecoming this week, as the former premier said she feared retired army officers may be plotting to kill her.
Benazir is set to return from eight years of self-imposed exile on Thursday after President Pervez Musharraf gave her amnesty against corruption charges, in an apparent step toward a US-backed power-sharing deal.
But the government has backpedaled and says Benazir should wait until the Supreme Court has ruled on the legality of the amnesty and on the validity of Musharraf’s landslide win in an Oct. 6 presidential vote.
Musharraf says he has sent personal messages to Benazir asking her to stay away for now.
Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem said Benazir could be arrested if the Supreme Court upholds legal challenges that were lodged last week against the amnesty.
“It is because of this reason that we are asking her to wait until the legal battle is over,” Azeem told AFP. “But at the moment it is highly unlikely the government will arrest her.”
Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, a close Musharraf aide, said it would be “good if she postpones her return. But Benazir is most welcome if she comes back.”
Benaizr’s Pakistan People’s Party said she would not change her plans.
“She will arrive in Karachi as per schedule on Oct. 18 and we are ready to accord her a historic welcome,” said party Vice President Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday also brought up the veiled threat of the corruption charges that caused Benazir to flee Pakistan in 1999.
“She is free to come and, you know, the laws of the land will apply to her, like any other citizen of Pakistan,” Aziz told CNN. “The people have had a strong reaction to removal of corruption cases against Ms. Bhutto.”
Benazir, meanwhile, said she feared former army officers may be plotting to assassinate her on her return.
She has already faced threats of suicide bombings from a top Pakistani Taleban commander, prompting her party to ask for government protection.
But she told Britain’s Guardian newspaper in a telephone interview that she was “worried about the threat within the government.”
She singled out as her most potent enemy retired military officers “who have fought the jihad” — an apparent reference to Pakistan’s sponsoring of Islamist fighters against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
“They have a lot of supporters and sympathizers within the echelons of administration and intelligence,” she said.
Sindh Chief Minister Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim told journalists on Sunday, “Benazir has asked for security. We have an armored personnel carrier (APC) for prisoners and an official residence (jail) ready for her.” Arbab’s remarks drew criticism from the PPP and others and Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani had to appear on private TV channels yesterday to clarify, “I don’t think the Sindh chief minister has given any threat to arrest Benazir because we have yet to get the Supreme Court ruling on the National Reconciliation Ordinance that grants her amnesty.”
