LONDON, July 4: If former prime minister Benazir Bhutto were to return to politics in Pakistan, she would stand up to militants, shut down religious schools where extremists recruit children and work to boost the economy, she said in an interview on Tuesday. It was a tall order and depended on the willingness of President Pervez Musharraf’s government to give in to the PPP’s demands, she told AP.

Ms Bhutto said she was determined to return to the country but she was unsure about doing so before elections this year.

“Right now, the signs don’t show that Pakistan is heading toward democracy,” she said. “I wish I could be more optimistic. I wish my message could be more hopeful. I simply don’t see the steps that are necessary.”

She said her party needed her at home. She said she could face charges related to the corruption allegations which were never proven. That threat would need to be eliminated before she would return, she said.

The government also would have to make certain concessions, including restoring a balance of power between parliament and the president.

Pakistan would need to show that it could hold free and fair elections and Gen Musharraf, if he wanted to remain president, must give up his role as army chief.

Ms Bhutto was critical of Gen Musharraf’s record, noting that in recent years, extremist elements had gained power and more hard-line religious groups had won parliamentary seats.

“I think that Gen Musharraf’s regime, despite being a military regime, has simply failed to exert governmental authority,” she said in the interview in her London apartment.

“The state seems to have conceded its authority to militias, militants and Taliban groups in different parts of the country, and that worries me most.”

Ms Bhutto said her key concern was the economy, and noted that few jobs had been created from the international aid Pakistan had received since siding with the United States after the Sept 11 attacks.

“In actual fact, poverty has increased,” she said. “Extremists play on the needs of the poor. They offer food, clothing (and) shelter in exchange for taking children at a young age.”

If she returned, she said, she would make it a priority to dismantle terrorist cells and fight militants as a first step toward improving the economy.

“Unless we have stability in the country, we’re never going to invite the foreign investment that is needed to act as a catalyst for Pakistan’s economic growth,” she said.

She also said a goal would be getting Pakistan and India to ‘agree to disagree’ over the Kashmir issue and to focus instead on issues both countries faced.—AP