Gen adopting dubious stand: Bhutto

Leaders from the US to Europe and the far East have publicly acknowledged that incursions into Kashmir were taking place from Pakistan, which needed to be stopped, she pointed out.

India has managed to get its viewpoint accepted by the world, she said. About the prospects of a war, the Pakistan People’s Party leader said: ‘‘We will have to wait for some time to answer this question. I think the next six to nine months are crucial.’’ She alleged that General Musharraf was adopting contradictory stands. ‘‘When Musharraf feels the heat from Washington he stops at a certain point, and when he feels the pressure is off, he again begins to indulge in things that are of dubious nature,’’ she said.

‘‘The problem with Musharraf is that instead of working for a genuine national consensus, he is at war with his own people,’’ the Gulf News quoted her. ‘‘He has created a very difficult situation for the country by his ‘foolishness’,’’ Benazir said, adding that the President has created political instability in the country and has placed the armed forces in a difficult situation.

Benazir, who had been demanding a caretaker or a representative government to deal with the crisis emphasised that General Musharraf should have been associated with the broad-based political set up in the country.

She said the country could have benefited and the leaders associated with the government could have played their due role in convincing the world and also the Indians on the need to ease tension.

‘‘Musharraf with his ‘myopic vision’ is refusing to share power with even those who have worked for the country,’’ she said. She reiterated her call to restore a civilian government that could ‘deal with India’.

‘‘A popular government carries a different weight and a different perception. Kargil and Siachen were lost by the military regimes and a political government brought back 93,000 soldiers from Indian jails,’’ she recalled.