‘Benazir, Nawaz can’t return before polls’

Published
0

ISLAMABAD, May 17: Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif will not to be allowed to return to the country before the general elections, according to President General Pervez Musharraf.

“No. They (Ms Benazir and Mr Sharif) cannot return before elections,” the president said in an interview with a private television channel. The interview will be aired on Friday.

The president said: “There is an increase of extremism and militancy in the country. We have to counter it. We have to face it.”

He said there were Al Qaeda elements in Mir Ali and Waziristan areas and they would be eliminated through intelligence operations.—APP

Opinion

Editorial

Electoral reform
Updated 04 Nov, 2026

Electoral reform

The real problem is the gulf between the statute book and what happens on polling day, not the laws.
Competing demands
04 Nov, 2026

Competing demands

THE climate crisis is becoming harder to confront as the world develops new ways to consume scarce resources. At an...
Belated meeting
Updated 04 Nov, 2026

Belated meeting

Whether it is Imran Khan, his family members, or other incarcerated political leaders and activists, the state should not deny them their rights.
An opening
Updated 03 Nov, 2026

An opening

If this brief opportunity for peace is wasted, sparking a wider conflict, the blame will rest squarely with the US president and the bloodthirsty Zionist regime.
Pakistan’s G-24 role
03 Nov, 2026

Pakistan’s G-24 role

PAKISTAN’S new role as chair of G-24 comes at a crucial moment for the Global South. Developing nations are...
Learning from polio
03 Nov, 2026

Learning from polio

THE eighth polio case of 2026, involving a 13-month-old girl from Khyber’s Bara tehsil, raises an important...