Benazir homecoming: security blanket all over Karachi

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October 18, 2007 Thursday Shawwal 5, 1428

Benazir homecoming: security blanket all over Karachi

By Shamim-ur-Rahman

KARACHI, Oct 17: Bhutto loyalists kept streaming into Karachi late into Wednesday night to welcome the People’s Party chairperson upon her arrival after eight years in self-exile.

At a pre-departure press conference in Dubai, Benazir Bhutto said she wanted to create for the people of Pakistan a country “where they have opportunities for employment, economic well-being, the primacy of civilian rule and a society free of extremism”.

In Karachi, PPP supporters were in a festive mood, their faces painted in the party tricolour and dancing to the accompaniment of songs composed to celebrate the homecoming on Thursday.

On the other hand, the party’s leadership in the city and the administration were preoccupied with sorting out security matters. The Sindh home secretary heightened jitters on both sides after he said intelligence reports had hinted at threats of suicide attack on Ms Bhutto’s motorcade.

But the ominous pronouncement did not dampen the Benazir loyalists’ enthusiasm.

Caravans from the interior of Sindh kept pouring into Karachi and many more were on their way. The PPP’s transport committee chief, Masroor Ahsan, told Dawn that rallies coming from Balochistan had been advised to turn left on Northern bypass and drive through Kathore bridge on the road leading to Hyderabad.

After crossing the link road they would use the National Highway and drive through Qaidabad bridge to reach the airport. Rallies coming from Hyderabad and other parts of the country had been advised to take the same route from Kathore link road. Caravans coming from other parts of southern Sindh, including Badin, would follow the National Highway. The party has set up reception camps on all important vantage places.

Provincial Secretary General Nafees Siddiqui said a huge turnout would stun the rulers, claiming that many rallies from Punjab, NWFP, Azad Kashmir, Northern Areas and Balochistan had already reached the city “despite hurdles created by the chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh”.

Dr Fehmida Mirza, an office-bearer, said PPP leaders were confident that they would give a “historic welcome” to Benazir Bhutto.

At the press conference in Dubai, Ms Bhutto said she did not fear “militants and extremists”, acknowledging that Afghan and Arab militants as well as those of the Red Mosque had threatened her.

“I don’t believe that a true Muslim will attack me. I believe Islam forbids suicide bombings.”

Benazir Bhutto was critical of the Supreme Court’s taking suo motu notice of the reconciliation ordinance. “Where was the court when a convicted premier from Punjab (Nawaz Sharif) was taken out of jail and sent to Saudi Arabia.

“And where was it when Dr A.Q. Khan publicly confessed that he had provided nuclear technology to several countries,” Ms Bhutto remarked.

She said that threats to her life had been whipped up to “intimidate me and the people of Pakistan”.

Ms Bhutto said she was hopeful that after the general election, the country would move towards “real democracy”.

The PPP chief said the country’s integrity was at stake because of the militancy and insurgency in the tribal areas

“There is a need to regain control of the tribal areas because if we don’t, others will do that and we might face an East Pakistan-like situation.”

She said if her party came to power, “we will prepare a package that would address the basic problems of the tribals”.

Ms Bhutto denied reaching a deal with President Musharraf, claiming that her return had nothing to do with the reconciliation ordinance. In fact, she said, negotiations were held in 2002, but she had rejected the “conditionalities”.

“We have not done any deal. We held negotiations... The Pakistan People’s Party negotiated for democracy... other parties did deals,” she said.

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Pakistani politics Zindabad!!!...

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October 18, 2007 Thursday Shawwal 5, 1428

Special squad to cover arrival: PPP seeks chopper for taking Benazir to mausoleum

By Syed Irfan Raza

ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: The government will provide a special security squad to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto who has received threats from militant commander Baitullah Mehsud.

“The security squad headed by senior police official Maj (retd) Imtiaz will be provided to Ms Bhutto on her arrival in Karachi on Thursday,” Interior Ministry Spokesman Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said here on Wednesday.

Sources said Maj Imtiaz had served in top positions in the police department during the tenures of the PPP government.

Brig Cheema said Pakistan People’s Party chairperson had been threatened by the militant commander that she would be attacked on her return to the country.

The government would provide foolproof security to Ms Bhutto in view of the threat, he said. She had also been allowed to use bullet-proof cars, he added.

Sources in the interior ministry said two bullet-proof cars had already reached the airport. They said the PPP had also demanded a helicopter for Ms Bhutto’s journey from the airport to the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam.

The interior ministry spokesman said the Sindh government had been directed to take adequate security measures.

When asked if Ms Bhutto could be arrested on her arrival, the spokesman said: “She would be treated within the ambit of National Reconciliation Ordinance”.

Talking to Dawn about criminal cases registered against Mr Asif Ali Zardari and the ‘Oil for food’ case against the PPP chairperson which is not covered by the NRO because it was registered after 1999, Brig Cheema said Ms Bhutto’s spouse was on bail in all the criminal cases.