Bhutto Calls for Musharraf to Step down Put under House Arrest

Juan Cole 11/13/2007

Opposition politician Benazir Bhutto has called for Gen. Pervez Musharraf to resign as president of Pakistan, and says she will never serve as prime minister under him. He put her back under house arrest on Tuesday.

My guess is that Benazir Bhutto will now be deported by Musharraf. He only let her back into the country under pressure from Secretary of State Condi Rice in the first place because she made a deal to cohabit with him politically.

However annoyed the Bush administration may be with Musharraf for letting the veil of ‘democracy’ drop and revealing clearly what a dictator he is, I can’t imagine Washington backing Ms. Bhutto against the Pakistani military!

More on Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Global Affairs blog from Manan Ahmed and Barnett Rubin.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page