Pakistan government on Monday rejected former premier Benazir Bhutto's demand to rope in international experts to probe the suicide attack on her motorcade.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government on Monday rejected former premier Benazir Bhutto's demand to rope in international experts to probe the suicide attack on her motorcade and said it planned to ban rallies and processions before the general election due to security concerns.
Bhutto, however, reiterated that an independent probe comprising foreign experts alone could uncover the conspiracy behind the failed assassination bid on her.
She also expressed dissatisfaction with the security cover provided to her by the government, saying she had not been provided everything she had sought.
The government's move to ban rallies provoked an angry reaction from opposition parties, which said they would defy it.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party said rallies are an 'essential part' of any election campaign while the PML-N termed the move as a 'plan' to ensure that the general election favoured President Pervez Musharraf.
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao dismissed Bhutto's call to involve foreign agencies in the probe into the two blasts in Karachi that killed nearly 140 people on Friday, saying Pakistani authorities have 'excellent and experienced investigators' who can handle the matter.
"I categorically reject (Bhutto's demand). We are conducting the investigation in a very objective manner. We have also asked the provincial government (in Sindh) to do that. We have good expertise as far as investigation is concerned," he said, adding Pakistani experts had probed assassination attempts on the president, prime minister and himself.
Sherpao said the government had framed a code of conduct, which included a ban on rallies and processions, to create 'a conducive atmosphere to conduct the election'.
"We do not want to postpone the election and we do not want any sort of an excuse for that. For that, we have made a code of conduct, a draft proposal. We will discuss this with the government and the political parties and if they agree, we will go ahead (with it)," he said.
There will be no ban on public meetings but these will have to be held by parties only at specified places. No party or leader would be allowed to organise processions or rallies before a public meeting, Sherpao said.
Sherpao's comments provoked an angry reaction from the PPP and the PML-N party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who plans to return from exile in November to lead his party in the campaign ahead of polls due in mid-January.
PPP leader Raza Rabbani said the party will defy any ban on rallies as "no law" could prevent it from reaching out to the people.
"Musharraf wants to impose this ban on rallies to stop popular opposition leaders from reaching their voters before the parliamentary elections," PML-N leader Sadiq ul-Farooq said.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Bhutto repeated her demand for foreign experts to be included in the probe into the Karachi blasts. She said she had "got some of the things that I want for my security but not all of what I want".
"I also want security to be provided to all the political leaders of Pakistan. When the others begin their rallies, there could be attacks on them. I think all political leaders and parties should be protected. There have been many political assassinations in this country and I think people need protection," she said.
Bhutto also said she had received information about threats of attacks on Bilawal House, her home in Karachi, and her residence in Larkana.
"The issue is not that there are some people who want to kill me, I know there are. But the issue is really what are you doing about the things that I need for my protection? That's what worries me," she said.
Bhutto also questioned the cooperation being extended to her by Musharraf's regime. "I am repeatedly assured by General Musharraf and his national security adviser and his chief of staff that they will cooperate. But this is a bit like the fight in the tribal areas that while everybody is cooperating, the ground reality is something different," she said.
Bhutto, who visited the mausoleum of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah on Monday, said she would continue to reach out to the people despite the threats she was facing.
"I will continue to meet the people. Of course I will review the way I do it because I would like to minimise the risk to my supporters and to innocent bystanders. But at the same time I cannot allow terrorists to dictate the agenda of the people of Pakistan," said Bhutto, who had on Sunday visited the victims of the blasts in hospital and gone to Lyari, a stronghold of the PPP in Karachi.
Referring to the government questioning her decision to go to Lyari without informing security agencies, Bhutto said she had not informed the authorities about her movements Sunday as she feared the information could be "leaked".
"If anything happens (to me) then I think those people have to be held responsible who refuse to nominate the police officers, refuse to give me jammers (to protect against bomb attacks)," she said.
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