From the Los Angeles Times

Bhutto calls on Musharraf to resign

The opposition leader rules out serving under the Pakistani president in a future government after she is placed under house arrest for the second time in five days.

By Henry Chu
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

7:03 AM PST, November 13, 2007

LAHORE, Pakistan — Throwing this country into deeper turmoil, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto called on President Pervez Musharraf today to step down, saying she could not serve under him in any future government and apparently dashing hopes of a power-sharing deal that was strongly backed by the United States.

Bhutto said she could no longer work with a military ruler who had declared de facto martial law, locked up her supporters by the thousands, refused to resign as army chief and reneged on promises to put Pakistan on a democratic path.

"I'm calling for Gen. Musharraf to step down, to quit, to leave, to end martial law," Bhutto said, speaking by phone to a group of foreign journalists. "I could not serve as prime minister with Gen. Musharraf as president. I wish I could....

"I will not be able to work with Gen. Musharraf because I simply would not be able to believe anything he said to me."

The surprise announcement came as Bhutto sat under house arrest here in Pakistan's second-largest city, where she had come to lead a road rally today to Islamabad to protest the state of emergency Musharraf declared Nov. 3.

They were the harshest comments the former premier has made about a leader with whom she acknowledged trying to reach a backroom power-sharing agreement through negotiations that have dragged on for months.

The potential deal was backed by Washington as a way to forge a civilian, democratically elected national government that would include both Bhutto, a two-time prime minister, and Musharraf, whom the Bush administration regards as an "indispensable ally" in the battle against Islamic terrorism. Both Bhutto and Musharraf are considered pro-Western moderates.

But Bhutto said she decided to reject cooperation with Musharraf after the "massive crackdown" his regime launched against members of her Pakistan People's Party overnight Monday. The sweep resulted in the arrest of 7,500 supporters, Bhutto said, as the party prepared for her motor caravan to Islamabad, the capital, through Pakistan's most populous and politically important province, Punjab.

Hundreds of police surrounded the home in which Bhutto was staying in Lahore, barricading the street with barbed wire and placing her under house arrest for the second time in less than a week. Bhutto said the show of force convinced her that Musharraf's overtures had been a sham.

"It left my party with the conclusion that he does not really want to do business with us," she said. "It made it clear that he was using us as icing on the cake to make sure no one notices the cake was poisoned."

She said she would focus her efforts now on uniting the fragmented opposition against Musharraf.

"Once I am out, I intend to build a broad-based alliance with a one-point agenda for the restoration of democracy and the rule of law," she said. "We feel all the political forces should come together."