Bhutto Vows to Protest Despite Police Threats

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto vowed today to go ahead with a rally to protest the imposition of emergency rule, despite police threats to stop it.

But the mayor of the city where Ms Bhutto plans to hold a rally on Friday warned there was a "strong threat" of another suicide attack against her, adding that police would prevent anyone from attending the gathering.

"We cannot take the risk of allowing any political party to hold big rallies," said Javed Akhlas, the mayor of Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of the capital Islamabad.

"We will ensure that they don't violate the ban on rallies, and if they do it, the government will take action according to the law."

The ban on political rallies is part of President Peverez Musharraf's crackdown against political dissent after his decision on Saturday to impose a state of emergency.

Pakistani authorities have since detained more than 2,500 people, placed a stranglehold on the media and suggested elections could be delayed by several months.

Babar Awan, a senior member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, said: "We denounce the government ban, and want to make it clear that our supporters and leaders will reach Rawalpindi for the rally."

A clash with Ms Bhutto's supporters - or another suicide attack aimed at her - could dramatically escalate the political crisis.

Ms Bhutto escaped a suicide bombing during her homecoming procession in Karachi on October 18 that killed more than 140 people. A suicide bomber blew himself up a few hundred meters from Gen Musharraf's office in Rawalpindi on October 30, killing seven people.

With US-backing, the president had been holding talks with Ms Bhutto that were widely expected to lead to a power-sharing arrangement after parliamentary elections timetabled for January.

The elections would have introduced greater democracy to a nuclear-armed country racked by political uncertainty and rising Islamic militancy which has alarmed the West.

Ms Bhutto said yesterday that Musharraf's authoritarian measures were a "breach of trust" and the talks were off. However, she also suggested they could resume if the state of emergency was lifted.

"I think we should all come down as strongly as we can for the restoration of democracy. And if General Musharraf wants to find a way out, well the ball is in his court," she said.

The UK and US, like Ms Bhutto, are pressing for the elections to be held on time and both countries are urging Gen Musharraf to keep a promise to quit his post as army chief - the real source of his power.

"For elections to be credible, opposition political party leaders and their party workers must be released from jail or house arrest. The media must be free to report on events and share their opinions with the public," The US Ambassador Anne Patterson said after meeting the head of the Pakistani election commission yesterday.