Declan Walsh in Lahore, Julian Borger, diplomatic editor, and agencies
November 13, 2007, The Guardian
Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto today moved closer to an open rupture with the president, General Pervez Musharraf, as she ruled out serving under him in a future government.
As she was placed under house arrest for the second time in five days, Bhutto hardened her criticism of the man with whom she had been negotiating a power-sharing deal, calling on him to resign.
"I will not serve as prime minister as long as Musharraf is president," Bhutto told Reuters. "Even if I wanted to work with him, I would not have the public support.
"Negotiations between us have broken down over the massive use of police force against women and children. There's no question now of getting this back on track because anyone who is associated with General Musharraf gets contaminated."
Stepping up the ante, Bhutto said it was now likely her Pakistan People's party (PPP) would boycott January's parliamentary elections and that she would work with the exiled former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to restore democracy.
Bhutto has previously called on Musharraf to step down as head of the army and become a civilian leader, but this is the first time she has called for him to resign as president.
[…]
With Bhutto under house arrest, her supporters started today's march without her. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the president of Bhutto's party for Punjab, said he was leading a column of 200 vehicles from Lahore.
Police tried to stop them at several points and arrested some of the leaders, but the convoy was continuing southward, Qureshi said by phone.
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