Feb 18 elections will not be deferred: Mush
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the February 18 parliamentary polls will not be deferred again no matter what happens and ruled out a UN probe into the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
By PTI |
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the February 18 parliamentary polls will not be deferred again no matter what happens and ruled out a UN probe into the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
Rejecting the demand by Bhutto's family and her Pakistan People's Party for United Nations inquiry into her killing, Musharraf said Pakistan should not be compared to Lebanon, where the world body is investigating the murder of the former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.
"It is not possible. Is another country involved?", he said in an interview with French daily Le Figaro on Friday.
Musharraf said that Pakistan had its own institutions to investigate the killing and that they were being assisted by the UK. "Pakistan is not Lebanon," he was quoted as saying by the BBC.
The president said he hoped the results of the investigation would be published before February's parliamentary vote.
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Bhutto's son, Bilawal, has said he does not believe that a government inquiry into his mother's death has had the "necessary transparency".Musharraf said the elections, which were were delayed following Bhutto's killing on December 27 and rescheduled from Jan 8 to Feb 18, would be held, no matter "what happens".
Musharraf said there was a campaign by al-Qaida to undermine Pakistan, but denied the country was about to disintegrate and descend into violence.
"They (al-Qaida) do not have the capacity to destabilise the country, but their suicide attacks create disorder and dishearten the population," Musharraf said.
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