| 2007
Pakistan Election: Bhutto Changes Mind, Leaves Pakistan:
KARACHI,
Pakistan (AP) — Opposition leader Benazir
Bhutto flew out of Pakistan
on Thursday after the Supreme Court vowed not to be intimidated
by any threats of martial law when it decides whether
to validate the military president's recent election victory.
A
suicide bomber, meanwhile, attacked an air force bus,
killing eight and wounding 40, the latest in a series
of attacks against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's
security forces.
Bhutto's
decision to visit family in Dubai came just two weeks
after she ended eight years in exile, only to be targeted
by assassins. The two-time former prime minister's on-again
off-again travel plans have been a source of confusion
since then.
"She
has gone to Dubai to see her ailing mother and children,"
her spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Thursday afternoon
after Bhutto was seen stepping onto an Emirates plane
in Karachi. Hours earlier, Bhutto
said she had decided to cancel the trip, citing lingering
political uncertainties. "She will come back on Nov. 8."
Pakistan
has been rocked by suicide bombings in recent weeks, deepening
political turmoil ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether
Musharraf's sweeping Oct. 6 presidential victory was constitutional.
There are fears he could impose a state of emergency if
judges rule against him, jeopardizing the country's transition
to civilian rule.
The
court, which in recent months has emerged as the main
check on Musharraf's dominance, said Thursday such rumors
would have no impact on its decision.
"No
threat will have any effect on this bench, whether it
is martial law or (state of) emergency," said judge Javed
Iqbal before adjourning until Friday. The judge warned
the next session after that could be Nov. 12, three days
before Musharraf's current term expires.
"Whatever
will happen, it will be according to the constitution
and rules ... No group should think that it can take the
Supreme Court hostage," he said.
Musharraf,
who seized power in a 1999 coup, has pledged to quit the
army before starting a new presidential term, but declined
on election night to say whether he would accept a negative
verdict from the court.
The
doubts over his political future and what course he might
take if blocked from a new five-year term has added to
the climate of uncertainty in Pakistan
amid the escalating violence.
Bhutto's
Oct. 18 homecoming was the target of the country's deadliest-ever
suicide attack, claiming more than 140 lives. Earlier
this week a bomber blew himself up near Musharraf's army
office in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of the
capital, killing seven.
There
have been no claims of responsibility for the recent attacks,
but most have been blamed on Islamic extremists, who also
have engaged in deadly clashes with the military in the
volatile northwest.
With
his authority and political clout fading, Musharraf
agreed to a corruption amnesty to help Bhutto
return to Pakistan. That followed months of talks on a
possible pro-Western alliance between them to counter
Islamic extremism after parliamentary elections slated
for January.
Musharraf,
a key U.S. ally, is under pressure from Washington to
crack down on pro-Taliban and al-Qaida
fighters hiding in the country's border regions near Afghanistan.
But stepped-up Pakistani military action
since July has sparked reprisal attacks across the country.
The
suicide bombing on the Pakistan Air Force
bus occurred at around 7 a.m. Thursday near an air base
in Sargodha, about 125 miles south of Islamabad,
air force spokesman Sarfraz Ahmed said. All the dead were
air force employees, said Sahid Malik, an official at
the hospital treating the victims.
Elsewhere,
security forces were struggling to contain militants directly
challenging the state's authority and pushing for the
imposition of Taliban-style strictures on society.
In
the northwestern district of Swat, where recent clashes
between security forces and supporters of a pro-Taliban
cleric have claimed more than 100 lives, fighting has
resumed after a two-day lull.
An
army helicopter attacked militants Wednesday in the Sambad
area of the mountainous region 80 miles northwest of Islamabad
after it came under fire. Eighteen militants were killed,
including Commander Tariq, an aide to the hard-line cleric,
Maulana Fazlullah, said provincial home secretary Badshah
Gul Wazir.
Early
Thursday, militants attacked hilltop positions of security
forces in the Khwaza Khela area, triggering a gunbattle,
said Ali Rahman, a local police official. He added that
troops backed by helicopter gunships and artillery continued
targeting militant facilities, killing at least five.
"The
security forces suffered no casualties," he said.
For
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Elections,
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