South Asia News
Defiant Bhutto wants Musharraf out of Pakistan politics (4th Lead)
Nov 13, 2007, 10:05 GMT
Police surround the residence of Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister and chairperson of opposition Pakistan People Party, in Lahore, Pakistan 13 November 2007. Some 1,000 policemen surrounded the residence of Benazir Bhutto after she was served with seven-day house arrest orders, ahead of a planned rally against Emergency rule in Lahore. EPA/RAHAT DAR
Lahore/Islamabad - Pakistan's opposition leader and ex-premier Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday rejected outright President Pervez Musharraf, even as a civilian ruler.
'I call on Musharraf to step down, to leave. This country belongs to people, it must return to the people,' Bhutto told a select group of reporters, including one from Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'Pakistan is a nuclear-armed country and simply it cannot afford anarchy and instability,' she said over the phone in the eastern city of Lahore, where she was placed under house arrest Monday to prevent her from leading a protest rally.
Bhutto staged a comeback on October 18 ending eight years of self-imposed exile reportedly after a power-sharing arrangement with the military president, but she switched sides once General Musharraf declared emergency rule 11 days ago.
'We were in dialogue for a peaceful transition to democracy, but Musharraf abandoned the path and imposed martial law,' Bhutto said.
She also struck down the possibility of serving as a prime minister under Musharraf as a civilian head of the state.
Twice deposed on graft and corruption charges, Bhutto has been demanding the lifting of emergency rule, restoration of the constitution, Musharraf's resignation as the country's military chief and release of all political prisoners.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) planned a 'long march for democracy' into the capital city Islamabad, some 290 kilometres north-west of Lahore, on Tuesday. However, authorities put the leader under house arrest citing threats of suicide bombings.
'We had one or two confirmed suicide bombers on target in the city (Lahore). We cannot take risks with her life, we are only concerned about her security,' top district administration official Mian Ejaz said.
At least one suicide bombing of Bhutto's homecoming caravan in the port city of Karachi killed more than 140 people, mostly PPP's ardent supporters.
Meanwhile, the opposition party kicked off its protest march from Lahore on Tuesday, despite what it termed the unlawful detention of its chairwoman.
'We are heading from Lahore towards Kasur on our way to Islamabad now in a procession of around 70 and 80 vehicles,' head of PPP Punjab province chapter Shah Mehmood Qureshi told dpa.
Earlier, scuffles broke out between PPP stalwarts and riot police when they were prevented from reaching the besieged house where Bhutto had been staying for last couple of days.
Up to 40 activists, including women and lawmakers, were arrested and thrown into waiting police vehicles and whisked away, a dpa correspondent reported from the scene.
'The general is sitting as a de facto president and the constitution is being suspended,' Yasmin Rehman, a PPP parliamentarian, told reporters just before she was taken into custody.
PPP senior vice-president and former parliamentary speaker Yousaf Raza Gillani was also among those arrested in the protest against Musharraf's rule.
Multi-tier barricades of iron and barbed wire were put in place across all accesses leading to the cordoned-off house, as police buses and trucks blocked the street ends to foil any attempt by Bhutto to roll past the hurdles in her armoured vehicle.
Despite the crackdown, the party said the planned demonstration would go ahead 'at all costs' with its activists ready for 'pitched battles' with anyone creating hurdles in their way.
The ex-premier was also prevented from leaving her Islamabad residence last Friday to address an anti-Musharraf rally in the neighbouring town of Rawalpindi.
Musharraf, an army general who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, on November 3 declared a state of emergency, putting the constitution in abeyance, deposing the independent-minded judges, and suspending fundamental rights.
The extra-constitutional step was followed by strict curbs on the media, which is still off the air.
Besides strong opposition from Bhutto, Musharraf is under growing international pressure to call off the state of emergency and hold free and fair parliamentary elections early next year.
The latest warning came on Monday when a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting in London gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to end the emergency rule or face suspension from the organization.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
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LOTR: Return of the King
She is as much a crook as him. Corrupt and self seeking Bhutto has been shoe horned back into the Pakistan political scene by London and Washington in the vein hope of maintaining a veneer of what we in the West like to call 'democracy'. Our puppet Musharraf is having his strings cut and we are desperate to prevent Pakistan from falling into the hands of it's own people. The people of Pakistan are not that foolish however. Hopefully Musharraf will shooot Bhutto before he himself is strung up.They are both Western puppets.
Do you know that through all the suppossed chaos, Washington is in discussions with Musharraf to neutralise his country's nuclear arsenal before his 'government' falls? There's a good chance one of his own soldiers will do the decent thing and put a bullet in this traitorous dictators head.
Here we have our 'ally' in the battle against al Qaeda; the person we count on turning into a tyrant running a country under martial law, talking about free elections after jailing the political opposition as well as much of the legal system.
Negroponte, who publicly supported Musharraf just a week ago, is our special envoy to Pakistan, allegedly to put pressure on him. Meanwhile, Musharraf complains that out of 20 of his Cobra helicopters, only one is operational, which means that he'll ask for more weapons and spare parts and more money. His cease-fire with the Taliban in 2006 has made things worse, and the radicals have made inroads into Pakistan's large cities, a real threat in a nation of over 165 million:
www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/asia/14pakistan.html?hp
'The administration has called the general the best bet to fight against Al Qaeda and Islamic militants but has also complained that the Pakistani military has been sporadic and often ineffective.
In the interview, General Musharraf said the Pakistani army had limited resources in taking on the fight. “Ten days back, of 20 Cobra helicopters, we have only one that was serviceable,” he said. “We need more support.”
Musharraf complains that Bhutto and Sharif have already served two terms as Prime Minister and cannot serve again ... yet it was under HIS Administration that the law was passed forbidding anyone from serving more than two terms:
'“Constitutionally today she has been prime minister twice, what about the third time? She is not legally allowed, she is not constitutionally allowed. Why are we taking things for granted?” Earlier in his regime, General Musharraf passed a law forbidding a Prime Minister serving more than two terms, a rule that forbids Ms. Bhutto and another opponent, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.'
(Musharraf has Bush over the proverbial barrel, and there''s nothing Bush can really do about it. Meanwhile, Bush is busy vetoing major legislation here, after 6 years of the GOP busting the budget with pork for THEIR special interests).
Bhutto is a CIA puppet and that agency has been paying her bills for years. She should be arrested for espionage and the CIA should be arrested and expelled from Pakistan for formenting the unrest that is currently taking place there.
Communiqué to The American People and others from the American Republic
It is quite apparent from the world events unfolding, and from the ones in the planning, that it is now time for those that are oppressed be set free.
Miracles are for believers of their faiths, and only that. Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, or any other Savior will not come to save you from your sins or from your despair. Governments and big business are your Gods. They control and manipulate you into whatever they desire. And the ones that do not conform are cast out into homelessness and death. There are cures for disease as their are cures for mass corruption and evil. There are cures for Cancer and for Aids, and see how many people are dying each day for that selfish fix. Desire and pleasure are the two most exploited forms of emotions that control the majority of humans on this planet. Democracy has failed, Communism, Fascism, and Socialism have murdered great men and women over the ages. Greed and betrayal have also contributed to the deaths of the innocent. Religious wars are being fought for no logical reason. Masonic, Skull and Bones, and other Fraternal societies are carving up this planet for temporary control, only to be lost to another and another until one system that is greater is chosen and allowed to become the Truth for all who wish to be free and co-exist with the Planet and its indigenous creatures. You must protect and nurture the environment to keep you all alive. God did not wish for you to destroy the creation that took so long to create. Your Eden is here, you have built on top of it.
Your prejudice and ignorance will also be your undoing. You treat the African people like they are talking monkeys of the forest. They are Men and Women who are humans, not animals. You treat those that are different like outcasts without hope. You poison those that seek God with ritual and lies. You control those that are not fortunate and make slaves of them. You degrade women and treat them like second class humans. Your governments offer your people nothing more than your greed will allow. Europe, South America, China, USA, and other countries have failed their people. Punishing those that are responsible will not solve the problems that exist. You must replace them all without compromise, and in their places put those that are not afraid of Truth.
The internet is corrupt, with criminals raping those that are not aware. The media you depend on for information is corrupt. They censor from you the truth to keep you in the realm of those that are not aware. Your educated ones have no more power than the ones that die for Diamonds and gold in the forests of Africa.
The UN and Nato are only their for those who have the gold. The news media has mass manipulated you all into a frenzy of fear and mistrust of each other, with nowhere to hide. Your religions will not protect you, only God can with your commitment to the truth and only that. The War on Terror will never end as long as you all allow those that have the power of Man to rule your world. The ones that have the power of the truth are waiting to come forward and replace what is now.
A One World System of Government is the answer, with the ability to allow those that are religious to practice their faith without fear and prejudice. Government is there for the people and to have the ability to take care of you and provide for you a place to live a life of respect and freedom. Religion is there for those that need comfort and purpose.
You murdered your Christ as you have murdered others thru time. This time you cannot and will not murder what is destined to be.
It is the so called learned men and women of this planet that are destroying her. You must stop this madness or you will never know that beyond this tiny planet are others that are waiting to serve you with knowledge that will help you leave this home and visit others. Your Governments have secrets that are only known to
a few. We know this because some of us are from those Governments and Businesses that keep from you all the truth.
We have separated ourselves from those entities and have formed what we call The American Republic. We do not have or need a flashy website or large one page ads in the news, we are not on talk shows, or CNN. We are not the subject of many, but we are known by Governments around the world. They know that their existence was created by people like us who grew tired of government and mounted invasions either thru violence or reason to replace. But we were not careful and found that in order to rule, one must be just and true, and now we have what we have now on this planet. Presidents have been assassinated for less information of what we know and can do. We decided to begin our new order in the United States of America, because it has been responsible for so much of the worlds problems and corruption. By recreating a new world order within the same one that has failed so many, will no doubt send a message to the rest of the world that change for the better is possible. Money and other tools we have. We do not need to solicit for existence, for we have what we need. We ask that each of you prepare for change and be aware of what is coming. Soon your pain and fear will turn to joy and happiness, and all of you will now have dignity and purpose without the fear of failure. There will be more reward than not.
We are a Legion of many, who will live a life of peace, and have respect for all living things, while having considerations for those who are different, and look for ways to truly accommodate those who are slow in understanding.
We support the poor, helpless, and defenseless people. We support the freedom of Women, we support the sane treatment of animals and the environment, we support the freedom of religion and expression. We do not support ignorance, period.
We are a growing nation of people that encourage anyone or Nation anywhere to become part of the New American Republic!
Sincerely,
Judah Ben-Hur
Ambassador
The American Republic
American Mujahideen Army Council
Headquarters: United States of America
Patriot: WHAT have you been smoking, Paraquat soaked Mexican brick-weed? Your brain is fried, Christ man, try some BC Bud. It's organically grown with no chemical pesticides. If you're going to get whacked out, at least don't rot your brain.
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hahahah... what a drama....Nov 13th, 2007 - 14:48:29
The Scandalous 'former' president Swiss Bank Bhutto comes back to her country after a decade and demand the Musharaff to step down?!! LOL!!!
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