Pakistan urges former premier Bhutto to delay homecoming
ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan has urged former premier Benazir Bhutto to delay her return until the Supreme Court rules on a government amnesty on corruption charges against her, ministers said Saturday.
Bhutto, the first female leader of an Islamic nation, is set to arrive in Pakistan next Thursday after eight years in self-imposed exile to campaign for key general elections in January.
But government ministers said she should wait until the court ruled on the legality of President Pervez Musharraf's amnesty signed a week ago clearing all politicians charged with graft between 1985 and 1999.
The controversial "reconciliation ordinance" was supposed to pave the way for a Musharraf-Bhutto power-sharing deal ahead of the elections.
"After yesterday's development in the Supreme Court it is a different scenario. Benazir Bhutto should delay her return till the challenges are cleared," said Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim.
Bhutto's highly anticipated homecoming to her powerbase of Karachi comes after she fled in Dubai and London to avoid corruption charges arising from her two terms in power.
A Bhutto aide has said her return would go ahead as planned -- despite the Supreme Court decision on Friday to hear five appeals against the amnesty in three weeks' time.
Azim said Bhutto could still face corruption charges if the court overturns the accord, adding that the government would abide by any court decision.
"If the court declares the national reconciliation ordinance null and void, then all cases and charges against her will be reinstated.
"Such a situation could create political turmoil," he told AFP.
"But she is free to come back, this is just friendly advice," he added.
The graft charges against Bhutto refer to 1.5 billion dollars which she and her husband allegedly siphoned off during her time as premier between 1988-1990 and 1993-1996.
The amnesty was one of Bhutto's conditions for a US-backed power-sharing pact with Musharraf ahead of the parliamentary elections, in which she plans to lead her Pakistan People's Party.
Musharraf also called on Bhutto earlier this week to stay away until the Supreme Court ruled on another matter -- the legality of his landslide re-election in last Saturday's controversial presidential poll.
"President Musharraf has conveyed (to) Benazir Bhutto a message that she should delay her return to Pakistan, but there was no direct contact between the two," the president's spokesman Rashid Qureshi said Saturday.
Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said Bhutto should accept the advice "to help maintain political harmony in the country."
"Let everything be streamlined and then she can come back," he told AFP.
"But it is her decision, we are just making a suggestion," he said.
Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, has been at odds with the court since trying to sack its chief justice in March, a move that sparked mass protests.
The court will next week hear the challenges against the military ruler's win in the presidential vote which most of the opposition boycotted.
