Army Ready to Take Control, Bhutto Charges

In a strongly worded attack, Benazir Bhutto charged Wednesday that powerful army generals had forced her ouster as prime minister, and she warned that the army will “take over” within a few weeks, ending Pakistan’s brief experiment with democracy.

“The military is running the show,” Bhutto told reporters here two days after President Ghulam Ishaq Khan abruptly dismissed her 20-month-old government, dissolved the National Assembly and declared a state of emergency.

“The caretaker government is temporary,” Bhutto said at a news conference. “Within a few weeks, the army will take over.”

Military and government officials denied the charges and insisted that general elections will be held Oct. 24.

But government officials said Bhutto, her mother, her husband and about 30 close aides and officials would be barred from leaving the country pending possible criminal charges.

The state of emergency gives the government wide-ranging powers of detention, and some of Bhutto’s supporters reportedly went into hiding to avoid arrest.

Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, an opposition leader who was named interim prime minister, indicated that special courts may be created to investigate persistent allegations of corruption leveled against key Bhutto supporters and members of her family and Cabinet.

Bhutto’s aides said the investigations may be used to prevent the 37-year-old Harvard- and Oxford-educated former leader and her Pakistan People’s Party from taking part in the October elections.

Critics said Bhutto, while personally honest, turned a blind eye to corruption and nepotism. Her husband, businessman Asif Ali Zardari, was widely known as “Mr. 10%” for alleged profiteering from government contracts. She also appointed her mother, Nusrat Bhutto, as a senior Cabinet minister.

Although Bhutto offered no proof, she said the army had threatened to impose martial law if she were not fired.

“An illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional step against me has been taken under pressure of military intelligence,” she said.

While in office, Bhutto tried to smooth over differences with the army and its powerful chief of staff, Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg.

She gave the army a broad say in foreign policy decisions particularly regarding Afghanistan.

She said Wednesday, however, that “major differences” developed with Gen. Beg in May, apparently over the army’s demands to crack down on urban violence in Sind province, her home and political power base.

Bhutto said she will not give the army “any pretext to postpone the elections,” but added her belief that the army would interfere if it appeared that her party might win.