Benazir seeks US help to restore democracy

ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto appealed today to US legislators, who will pay a visit to Pakistan, for providing active leadership to return democracy to her homeland, reports AP.

Four democratic senators - Minority Leader Tom Daschle, of south Dakota, Christopher Dodd, of Connecticut, Harry Reid of Nevada and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, are to arrive later Thursday on a two-day visit.

It's not clear who the four men will meet, but US Embassy spokesman Mark Wentworth said the senators will be pressing for a timetable for a return to democracy in Pakistan, something Washington has been demanding since the coup.

In a letter to Daschle, Ms Bhutto suggested Washington tie fresh US financial aid to Pakistan to a commitment and timetable from the army for the return of democracy as well as the release of political prisoners.

"Such a message would clearly convey that in the 21st century democracy, human rights and the rule of law are the values which are respected and upon which lie the dignity of nations in the global community," Ms Bhutto said in her letter.

Ms Bhutto, who was twice dismissed from power on allegations of widespread corruption, has been convicted of corruption in Pakistan and sentenced in absentia to five years in jail by the deposed government of Nawaz Sharif from her home in Britain, Ms Bhutto initially welcomed the army's takeover and the removal of her arch-rival Sharif.

Gen Pervez Musharraf, the man in charge in Pakistan, has refused to be tied to a deadline to return civilian rule in Pakistan. Instead Musharraf says he wants to implement a series of reforms that would ensure democracy takes root in Pakistan.

Musharraf has accused previous governments, including Ms Bhutto's, of runaway corruption that has weakened most of the country's institutions and left the economy in tatters.

Before setting a date for new elections, Musharraf said he wants new laws, electoral reform, a revived economy and a clean sweep of the corrupt in Pakistan, an ambitious agenda that even his supporters believe will take years.

Meanwhile Ms Bhutto in her letter didn't name the political prisoners she wanted released, but previously she has pressed for the release of her jailed husband, Asif Ali Zardari also convicted on corruption charges. Zardari has been in jail since his wife's government was ousted in 1996.

In Pakistan's rough and tumble politics corruption and influence pedaling has become endemic.

In one of his first acts after taking power Musharraf established a National Accountability Bureau with sweeping powers and laws to arrest and detain those suspected of corruption as well as those who have not repaid bank loans, a common practice among the wealthy in Pakistan.

Several of the country's wealthiest have been arrested under these new laws, which Ms Bhutto described as draconian and which Musharraf's officials describe as "desperate measures for desperate times."

Also in her letter to Daschle Ms Bhutto also pressed the legislators to push Pakistan to become the "first South Asian nuclear power to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," a request that would sit well with the United States which has been appealing to both Pakistan and its nuclear neighbour India to sign the global treaty.

Pakistan already has indicated its willingness to sign, but says that it wants to build a consensus at home and explain the treaty to Pakistanis before signing it.

Ms Bhutto suggested Washington could offer financial incentives through debt relief in exchange for non-proliferation steps "to show the people of Pakistan that economic security can be achieved in tandem with national security."

According to Wentworth the four senators are to meet with the Pakistani leadership, although it's not clear whether that will include Musharraf.