The husband of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto said Saturday that her party will try to persuade the Pakistani people that the fight against Islamic militancy is "our own war" — not just America's — if it wins Monday's elections.In an interview with The Associated Press, Asif Ali Zardari also urged Washington to do more to promote democracy in Pakistan. He would not say whether his party would be willing to work with President Pervez Musharraf.
Opinion polls suggest opposition parties are set for a sweeping victory in the parliamentary vote. But the enthusiasm of candidates and voters is minimal in the wake of Bhutto's assassination and amid fears that the voting will be rigged and marred by more bloodshed.
Zardari blamed authorities under Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 military coup and became a key U.S. ally after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, for the widespread skepticism of ordinary Pakistanis toward fighting terrorism. "They have made the people think and realize that we are fighting a war for the sake of the Americans, which is not the true position," Zardari said.
He said the key question was: "Are we ready to become a Taliban state? And the answer is: 'No, we're not.' ... That means we are fighting our own battle, we are fighting our own war."
Zardari spoke to the AP shortly after a suicide car bomb attack on an independent candidate's office near the Afghan border left more than 100 people dead or wounded, many of them supporters of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party. "It's a targeted attack and we condemn it with all the spirit of democracy and all the force in us," Zardari said. He urged party workers to remain calm. "This is again that way of making us lose track and give up the path of democracy," he said.