The New Nation - Internet Edition

Agencies

The US State Department has backed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's call for mass protests against the emergency rule, saying that people should have the right to express themselves.

Commenting on Bhutto's call for street protests, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "There should be a right for people to express themselves."

McCormack rejected concerns that Bhutto's call would spark further violence.

"I don't think anybody should look at actions and say that they are going to inevitably lead to violence," he said.

"People have a choice. People have a choice in what they do and have a choice in how they react," McCormack said. "We've preached the idea to all parties of calm during this particularly turbulent period in Pakistan's political system," McCormack said.

"I don't think anybody wants to see outbreak of violence. What we want to see is a peaceful return to constitutional democratic rule," he told reporters.

"Our counsel to all parties has been to maintain that atmosphere of calmt and focus on those actions that take Pakistan back to democratic rule," the Dawn quoted McCormack, as saying.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said he is willing to team up with another ex-premier and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, if she stops negotiating with General Pervez Musharraf.

"I would still be very willing to work with her provided she now abandons all her plans to go along with Musharraf because he's a dictator and the man responsible for the present day's crisis," The Nation quoted Sharif, as saying in an interview to a news agency.

The PML (N) leader said he had spoken to Benazir in the immediate aftermath of the October 18 suicide attack that targeted her homecoming from exile, killing 145 people. Sharif said they had also exchanged brief words two days ago when they were phoned by the same radio station for interviews. He added that Benazir "has to join the democratic forces."

Sharif said that unless he was able to return to Pakistan before parliamentary elections, as Benazir has been allowed to do, the elections would be a 'farce'.

"If Benazir Bhutto is there, what's the harm if Nawaz Sharif comes to Pakistan?" he asked.

He urged the West to abandon Musharraf by dissociating themselves from the military ruler, saying Pakistan was heading deeper into chaos and his arch-enemy had outlived his usefulness in fighting terrorism.

"One man is holding the entire nation hostage for his personal interests," he said.

"The political forces, the lawyers and civil community that believe in moderation and democracy, they are sidelined today. Who is going to get the benefit? It will be the radicals and extremists, they will thrive now.

"Musharraf is a man who has outlived his utility in terms of fighting any battle against terror," Sharif added.

Sharif went on to urge the people of Pakistan to protest against Musharraf, and predicted that unless the state of emergency was reversed and the general ousted, the country could be pitched toward 'catastrophe'.

"If he (Musharraf) still continues to cling onto power, then of course people will not keep watching the situation in their homes and remain silent spectators, they will come on the streets. I see that large numbers will come onto the streets in the coming days," he said.

Meanwhile Suicide bombers have infiltrated Rawalpindi where former premier Benazir Bhutto plans a protest rally on Friday against a state of emergency.

''We have very specific intelligence reports that suicide bombers have entered Rawalpindi,'' said city police chief Saud Aziz.

Aziz said up to eight bombers may be in the city and could ''target big gatherings and kill innocent people.''

Police have informed Bhutto ''there are serious threats from the bombers,'' he added. ''The situation is very serious, especially in Rawalpindi where we recently had two suicide attacks.''

Two suicide bombers targeted Bhutto's homecoming rally from exile on October 18 in Karachi, killing 139 people and wounding more than 300.

The Rawalpindi police chief reiterated today that the party would not be allowed to stage the meeting.

''We are very clear on it. We have not permitted them to hold any public meeting in Rawalpindi. We have informed them in writing,'' he said.

''There is an emergency in the country and there are security concerns,'' he said, adding that he hoped her party would not attempt to defy the restrictions.

''If they defy them, the law will take its own course,'' he warned.

Pakistani police rounded up about 400 supporters of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto in a crackdown hours after she called for mass protests against emergency rule, her party said Thursday.

The move came as US President George W. Bush said he had telephoned President Pervez Musharraf to tell him bluntly that he must hold elections as scheduled and quit as army chief.

The activists from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) were detained in a series of raids across Punjab province, the country's political heartland, said the party's provincial secretary general, Ghulam Abbas.

"Police have launched a crackdown against our party workers at village, town and city level. They have taken into custody around 400 of our people from different areas across Punjab," Abbas told journalists.

Police confirmed between 40 to 50 arrests.

A federal government official said the government "has not ordered a crackdown" against Bhutto's party activists.

Bhutto said she would hold a rally in Rawalpindi on Friday despite police threats of a crackdown, and called for a "long march" on November 13 from Lahore to the capital if Musharraf does not repeal emergency rule.

The party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto vowed to hold a rally against emergency rule near the capital, despite threats from officials to crush it by force.

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

The mayor of Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of Islamabad, said police would be out in force to prevent anyone reaching the park where Bhutto planned to address supporters on Friday.

"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," mayor Javed Akhlas said.

Akhlas said there was a "strong threat" of another suicide attack against Bhutto, who escaped a blast during her homecoming procession in Karachi on October 18 that killed more than 140 people.

A suicide bomber blew himself up a few hundred yards from president Pervez Musharraf's office in Rawalpindi on October 30, killing seven people.

"We cannot take the risk of allowing any political party to hold big rallies," Akhlas said.