Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) — Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who took over
as chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party after his mother,
Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated last month, said his country may
fragment unless President Pervez Musharraf backs free elections.
“I fear for my country, Zardari, 19, a first-year history
student at Oxford University, said at a news conference in London
today. “I fear if free and fair elections are not held, it may
disintegrate.
Parliamentary elections, which were initially scheduled for
today, were delayed for six weeks after Bhuttos assassination in
the garrison town of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27. Opposition
politicians including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said
Musharraf wanted the elections postponed because a wave of
sympathy for Bhutto will hurt the pro-government Pakistan Muslim
League-Quaid-e-Azam, which controlled the last parliament.
Bhutto, who took over the PPPs leadership after her father,
former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was executed in 1979,
named her widower as her successor in a will. Asif Ali Zardari,
51, who will be co-chairman of the PPP, nominated their son to
lead the party.
Bilawal Zardari, who is too young to run for parliament,
left Pakistan to continue his studies. Today, he appealed to the
media to leave him alone at Oxford, saying he wont give any
interviews and may hold occasional news conferences.
Endorsed by Party
Zardari said he had been at Oxford for barely eight weeks
before the death of his mother. He studies at Christchurch
College. His two sisters live in Dubai.
He said the PPP endorsed his nomination as party chairman.
“Pakistan was burning and I did what I was asked to do,
he said. “I took on the position because the party needed a
close association with my mother and a bloodline. My role as
chairman is one into which I will step gradually and carefully.
Zardari criticized the U.S., which supplies Musharrafs
administration with financial and military aid to fight
extremists. The Pakistani president came to power in a 1999
military coup that deposed Sharif. Musharraf stepped down as army
chief on Nov. 28 after pressure for him to give up the military
leadership while holding the presidency.
“The problem is that dictatorships feed extremism and once
the United States stops supporting dictators we can successfully
tackle the extremist problem as well, Zardari said.
Riots in Cities
Bhuttos assassination sparked riots in Pakistans main
cities, resulting in the deaths of as many as 58 people, as her
supporters took to the streets, burning offices, shops and cars.
Musharraf said the Election Commissions decision to delay the
parliamentary ballot until Feb. 18 was “appropriate because
rioting after Bhuttos killing had destroyed election equipment.
The younger Zardari also said an investigation run by the
Pakistani government has no credibility because “so much
forensic evidence has already been destroyed.
“Had she been provided with adequate protection, she
wouldve been alive today, he said. “We appreciate that
Scotland Yard detectives have become involved but the family and
partys request is for an investigation sponsored by the United
Nations.
A five-member team from the London police force arrived in
Pakistan last week to help the government investigate Bhuttos
assassination. Musharraf said on Jan. 2 that al-Qaeda-linked
Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud had plotted Bhuttos
assassination in a gunfire-and-suicide bomb attack as she
finished addressing an election rally.
Phone Call Alleged
Pakistans security agencies intercepted a telephone
conversation between Mehsud and an aide the day after Bhuttos
killing in which they congratulated each other, according to the
interior ministry.
Bhuttos party has rejected government claims Mehsud was
behind the assassination and has demanded a United Nations-led
investigation. The senior Zardari said his sister, a doctor,
bathed Bhuttos body before burial and saw a bullet wound.
That contradicts a government report that Bhutto wasnt hit
by bullets or shrapnel and was killed when she hit her head on a
lever for the sunroof of her vehicle following a suicide bomb
blast. No autopsy was performed.
Bhutto ignored warnings about possible attacks and exposed
herself by standing in the open sunroof of her car, Musharraf
said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Camilla Hall in London at
