Mashallah. All she has to do now is put the dots on the i’s and cross the t’s for a power sharing deal with President Musharaf.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/13/wpak413.xml
Benazir Bhutto, the self-exiled opposition leader, yesterday backed the storming of the Red Mosque, saying the operation had “drawn a line in the sand” and ended a “policy of appeasement” towards terrorists.
In words that will play well in Washington, Ms Bhutto told The Daily Telegraph: "It was an unfortunate incident but I am grateful there was no policy of appeasement.
“It is the end of ambiguous policies towards terrorism, which have encouraged militants.”
Ms Bhutto called for a “post-mortem” of the operation, meaning that further radical strongholds should be investigated.
“How was this madrassa able to develop in that way? There must have been some collusion [with the government],” she said.
The political prospects of Ms Bhutto, who has said she planned to return to Pakistan to re-enter the political fray, have been revived by a burgeoning opposition to military rule in Pakistan.
America wishes to see her political party, which has broad support in Pakistan, take a prominent role in government after elections scheduled for later this year.
Ms Bhutto did not rule out a political deal being made with President Pervez Musharraf, but said that negotiations were “in a log-jam”.
She detailed various bones of contention, such as the establishment of an impartial election commission and the abolishment of local councils mainly controlled by her political rivals.
In her most explicit statement to date on a possible deal with Gen Musharraf, she said: “We are saying that a power-sharing agreement is a subsequent issue. First we must resolve the nature of the elections.” Ms Bhutto has been emboldened by recent comments from America’s State Department, saying that the US expected Gen Musharraf to hold free and fair elections.
The first woman to lead a modern Muslim state, Ms Bhutto became prime minister at the age of 35 in 1988 and was dismissed twice amid allegations of corruption, which she denied. She now lives in exile in London and Dubai and, in the past, Gen Musharraf has promised to arrest her if she sets foot in Pakistan.
Speaking before the mosque was stormed, Ms Bhutto told the Telegraph that parts of Pakistan had already “fallen” to a brand of radicalism which she called “Talibanisation”.
“I will re-establish the writ of the state and tackle extremism whereas elements of Gen Musharraf’s government have actually supported militancy,” she said.
However, she preferred to brush under the historical carpet her government’s early support for the Taliban. “We recognise now that it was a mistake,” she said.
