Source: BBC News

Several of Ms Bhutto’s supporters were taken away by police

Pakistan’s detained opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has called for President Pervez Musharraf to step down. Ms Bhutto made the call after police mounted a massive security operation to prevent a protest march in Lahore, where she is under house arrest.

It is the first time Ms Bhutto has urged Gen Musharraf to quit altogether.

Pakistan’s government says elections will proceed according to schedule in January, but critics say in present conditions they cannot be free or fair.

Gen Musharraf attracted fierce international protest when he imposed emergency rule in Pakistan on 3 November, citing rising militancy and “interference” by the judiciary in the governance of the country.

On Tuesday, police in Lahore imposed a seven-day detention order on Ms Bhutto, ahead of a planned “long march” to demand the end of emergency measures.

Bundled away

Hundreds of activists have been arrested in and around Lahore.

Vehicles, barbed wire and metal barriers surround the house where Ms Bhutto is staying, and thousands of police are on duty in Lahore. Chanting supporters of Ms Bhutto who gathered at the house were bundled into police vans and driven away.

If [Bhutto’s supporters] try to take the law into their own hands, then we will resort to all means necessary Senior police official Lahore

The police say the planned march defies emergency laws and that Ms Bhutto’s personal safety is under threat.

In response Ms Bhutto extended her previous demands for free elections and an end to emergency rule, and for the first time called for Gen Musharraf to quit.

In interviews with the BBC, she said the Pakistani people had lost confidence in Gen Musharraf’s ability to steer the country towards democracy.

“It’s time for him to leave,” she said.

“He has lost the confidence of the people of Pakistan… He is unable to give the nation a fair election… He is bent on maintaining and sustaining a dictatorship,” she said.

It is the second time Benazir Bhutto has been stopped from marching

She confirmed there were “no circumstances” in which she would serve as prime minister if Gen Musharraf remained president.

The BBC’s Barbara Plett says this demand apparently marks a significant shift by Ms Bhutto, who has previously tried to negotiate a power-sharing deal with the president.

But, our correspondent cautions, it remains to be seen whether Ms Bhutto is simply expressing what she sees as the national mood or whether she is preparing for a united opposition campaign to oust the military leader.

Until now, neither opposition activists nor lawyers, who spearheaded previous protests against emergency rule, have participated in the demonstrations outside Ms Bhutto’s house - reflecting their suspicions that she is still dealing with Gen Musharraf.

Ms Bhutto says she still wants the 270km (170-mile) march from Lahore to Islamabad to go ahead.

But a senior Lahore police official told Reuters news agency: “Her residence is an official jail now.

“If [her supporters] try to take the law into their own hands, then we will resort to all means necessary, including charging with batons and tear gas.”

Elections ‘on time’

Pakistan’s Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid, defended the actions of the leadership, saying the planned march would put lives in danger.

More than 140 people died in a suicide bomb attack on a welcome rally for Ms Bhutto on 18 October.

Gen Musharraf has promised elections by 9 January

“We must be very responsible,” Mr Rashid said.

The government has said elections will take place in January, as scheduled.

But given the emergency decree, campaigning would take place under severe restrictions, and opposition groups have complained this would not constitute free and fair elections.

Some may boycott the poll, correspondents say.

On Monday, the 53 members of the Commonwealth gave Pakistan 10 days to lift emergency rule or face suspension.

As yet, Gen Musharraf shows little sign of backing down, says BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.

Until now, he reports, Washington’s preferred option appeared to be an arranged “political marriage” between Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf - who President George Bush has identified as a key partner in the war on terror.

But reports from Washington indicate that the Americans too are now losing patience with the general, our correspondent says.

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