Bhutto Says Emergency Breach of Faith

Nov 07, 01:07 AM

Current Headlines: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says her power-sharing talks with President Pervez Musharraf are off because of his emergency rule order.

Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan last month after eight years of self-imposed exile, arrived in Islamabad to meet with opposition party leaders as the country convulsed with arrests and more protests over last Saturday's imposition of emergency rule by Musharraf, the Voice of America reported Wednesday. The report said up to 1,500 people had been arrested so far.

Bhutto said she will not negotiate with Musharraf and urged him to allow elections to proceed as originally scheduled for January, the VOA reported.

The talks are off because we were talking for a restoration toward democracy, Bhutto said. And to my great surprise and shock instead of going toward democracy we ended up with martial law (emergency rule). So I feel it was a breach of faith.

One U.S. analyst warned those being arrested are natural allies of enlightened moderation, but the emergency rule and the crackdown will tend to drive both parts of (Musharraf's) opposition into each other's arms as long as he is there, the report said.