Bhutto joins other Opposition leaders to condemn state of emergency

Former Primr Minister Benazir Bhutto joined opposition leaders in lambasting Pakistan’s decision to impose a state of emergency Saturday, saying the country’s military ruler was only encouraging Taliban and al-Qaida linked militants.

“Today is the blackest day in the history of Pakistan,” said Bhutto, calling the decision tantamount to dictatorship. “This is not an emergency but martial law, because Gen. Pervez Musharraf imposed it as chief of army staff, not as a civilian president.”

“We oppose this strongly and will not accept this situation.”

Bhutto, whose recent return to Pakistan following eight years in exile was shattered by suicide bombers, flew in from the United Arab Emirates late Saturday where she was visiting family.

She left the Karachi airport under police escort - her house was surrounded by paramilitary troops - and held a hastily arranged news conference.

Hours earlier, Musharraf suspended the constitution, cut communications in the capital, and replaced the chief justice before a crucial Supreme Court ruling on his future as president. Bhutto said she thought he was worried about what verdict would be handed down. “Judicial decisions have to be accepted even if they don’t suit you,” she said.

More than 140 people were killed when suicide bombers attacked the two-time former prime minister’s Oct. 18 homecoming parade, the deadliest suicide attack in Pakistan’s history.

Islamic militants have also expanded their control from the northwestern border with Afghanistan to regions inland, including the scenic Swat valley, which in the past drew tourists from all over the world.

“I totally agree that extremism and terrorism is on the rise,” she told Sky TV. “This is why the militants and the extremists targeted my homecoming ride. The extremists fear democracy, they feel the power of the people.”

Bhutto - who was welcomed at the airport by hundreds of journalists and chanting supporters - said she agreed with Musharraf that political turmoil and a rise in Islamic militancy had put the nation in grave danger. But she said dictatorship was not the answer.

“The militants need the dictatorship,” she said. “They feed off each other.”

Bhutto, who was the Muslim world’s first female prime minister, is respected in the West for her liberal views and tough rhetoric on fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban. She is seen as an anti-terror ally for Musharraf if her party fares well in parliamentary elections that were due by January.

She did not directly answer a question asking whether she would still consider forming an alliance with Musharraf - said to have been a condition for her return from exile. He, in turn, agreed to drop past corruption charges against her.

“He broke his promises and we would like him to undo the action; if he does not undo it, then I’m afraid he is simply opening one more front that does not need to be opened at this time,” she told Sky TV by telephone.

Other opposition leaders also blasted Musharraf’s decision, including cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan, who was placed under arrest in the eastern city of Lahore. He urged the people of Pakistan to demonstrate against emergency rule.

Deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif suggested that all Pakistanis and political parties, including that of his rival Bhutto, come together to oppose the decision.

“I think we are heading toward chaos,” he told Geo TV from Saudi Arabia, where he is in exile.

Karachi, Sunday, AP