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Pakistani election set for Feb. 18

Pakistani Peoples Party workers and family members pray for the departed soul of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Lahore, Pakistan, on Tuesday. PHOTO: EPA

Pakistan's general election will be postponed by six weeks until the middle of next month because of the violence sparked by the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, election officials said yesterday.

Meanwhile, the foreign office said yesterday the government was open to international help in its investigation into Bhutto's killing, although it rejected calls for a UN-led probe.

"In all the four provinces, for some days this election process came to a complete halt," Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq told a news conference. "Polling will now be held on Feb. 18 instead of Jan. 8."

The killing of the charismatic opposition leader has fueled doubts about stability and the transition to democratic rule in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a crucial US ally in its anti-terrorism efforts.

Farooq said election offices in 11 districts of Sindh, Bhutto's home province, were burned down in the disturbances, destroying transparent ballot boxes, voter screens, voter lists and other election materials.

Supporters of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the other main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had wanted the election to go ahead as planned, fearing a delay would work to President Pervez Musharraf's advantage.

"Whatever reasons they give are such lame-duck excuses, because the electoral papers and lists were burnt in the districts but they have those lists in the central office," said Farzana Raja, a spokeswoman for the PPP.

"We reject their baseless excuses. We're ready to fight the election," Raja said.

Bhutto's party would expect to reap a considerable sympathy vote following her assassination in a gun and bomb attack as she left a rally in Rawalpindi last Thursday.

The foreign office yesterday responded to offers of help from abroad.

"The government is committed to a thorough and transparent investigation and is open to receiving assistance from outside," foreign office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told reporters.

He said that visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had offered help with the probe yesterday, while the US and Britain had already told Pakistan that they were willing to assist.

"France is an important country of the European community. He did offer French help in the investigations. We assured we will contact them if such assistance is needed," Sadiq said.

But he rejected calls from Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, for a UN inquiry into her death along the lines of the world body's probe of the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

"The situation in Pakistan is totally different to the circumstances around Hariri's death," Sadiq said.

Musharraf faces calls from the PPP and politicians in the US for an international probe.

The interior ministry had previously said that Pakistan did not require foreign help, adding that the international community "does not understand the environment" in the country.

Also See: Consumers pay dire price after Bhutto assassination
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