The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, London

Benazir Bhutto's niece described as "dangerous" the idea that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) must be led by a member of the family in an interview published Saturday.

Fatima Bhutto, 25, is still seen by some in Pakistan as a potential heir to the family dynasty, although her cousin, Bhutto's son Bilawal, was named PPP co-chairman after his mother's assassination on December 27.

Fatima told the Times newspaper in London that she might be interested in a career in politics, although would not be "a symbol" for anyone, and denounced the PPP as "desperate to cash in on her (Benazir's) blood".

"It's become in a sense the family business, like an antique shop where it's just 'So and So and Sons,' and then grandsons and great grandsons. It just gets handed down," she said.

"The idea that it has to be a Bhutto, I think, is a dangerous one.

"It doesn't benefit Pakistan.

"It doesn't benefit a party that's supposed to be run on democratic lines and it doesn't benefit us as citizens if we think only about personalities and not about platforms."

At a London press conference earlier this week, Bilawal strongly denied a suggestion from a journalist that his role had been handed down to him "like some piece of family furniture".

Fatima's father was Benazir's younger brother Murtaza, killed in mysterious circumstances in Karachi 12 years ago while Benazir was in power.

Her side of the family was subsequently locked in a feud with Benazir, but joined in the mourning after the former premier's assassination.