mordant wit

Pakistan's newspapers speculate that Musharraf, unpopular and increasingly isolated, may be considering running some sort of political accommodation with Bhutto, leader of the still popular Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Bhutto fled to Europe amidst corruption charges in Pakistan after the collapse of her second government in the early 1990s. Presidential advisers and Bhutto aides seemed surprised when news of the secret get-together was first reported, suggesting that very few officials in either camp knew about the meeting, though a minister later confirmed it had taken place.

Musharraf has long said he would not cut deals with Bhutto or with Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister from whom Musharraf seized power in 1999 and is now also living in exile. If Musharraf has met with Bhutto, it is a measure of how vulnerable he feels. Many Pakistanis share the sentiment. As I rose to leave after an interview Saturday with Syed Kamran Zafar, an Islamabad-based official for Bhutto's PPP, he urged me not to visit any markets in Islamabad. "Stay clear of anywhere it is crowded," he implored, sounding scared himself. "I mean it. These bastards are killing innocent people. Why don't they go after army generals?"

# posted by masquerader @ 12:57 ::