Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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October 17, 2007

Bhutto Pledges Return to Democracy on Eve of Homecoming
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=19E8E78:A6F02AD83191E160E41441485C151AB49574F7DCC14957C0 Former Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto says her arrival Thursday will mark transition
from dictatorship to democracy Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
says her arrival in Pakistan on Thursday will mark the country's
transition from dictatorship to democracy. In a televised address from
Dubai carried live on major Pakistani news channels, Ms. Bhutto also
denied reaching a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf.
VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad.







Benazir Bhutto talks to journalists in Dubai, 17 Oct 2007Speaking in
Dubai, former Prime Minister Bhutto said she expects more than
one-million people to greet her when she arrives in Karachi despite
threats of attacks from Islamic militants.

"My return heralds for the people of Pakistan, the turn in the wheel
from dictatorship to democracy, from exploitation to empowerment, from
violence to peace," she said.

In Karachi, police are sealing off roads and preparing bomb squads for
Ms. Bhutto's arrival Thursday.

At a news conference in Dubai, Ms. Bhutto said any attacker would
regret trying to assassinate her, because it would violate the tenets
of Islam.

Politicians with fundamentalist Muslim parties have warned that Ms.
Bhutto's arrival could damage efforts to end fighting in tribal areas.
She has pledged to support President Musharraf's campaign against
militants.

Ms. Bhutto denied allegations that her Pakistan People's Party
negotiated a secret power-sharing deal with President Musharraf. His
government has agreed to drop corruption charges against her, and many
Pakistanis believe the PPP agreed in return not to boycott Mr.
Musharraf's presidential election.

"I would like to clarify that as far as the Pakistan People's Party is
concerned, we have not done any deal," she said.

She said her party had conducted what she called "negotiations" for
the transition to democracy. Mr. Musharraf came to power in 1999 in a
military coup and he remains head of the army, as well as president.

The Supreme Court is considering legal challenges to the
constitutionality of her amnesty deal.









Pervez Musharraf  In a separate case challenging the recent
deportation of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, justices ordered
the head of the immigration agency to explain who was involved in Mr.
Sharif's expulsion.

General Musharraf ousted Mr. Sharif in 1999 and forced him into exile.
Last month, he tried to return, but government officials immediately
sent him back out of the country.


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