LONDON: Benazir Bhutto has rejected a “deal” offered by Pakistan’s caretaker government and the army under which charges of corruption against her would be dropped if she were to leave the country and retire permanently from politics, “The Independent” reported Monday from Karachi. Well informed sources, told the newspaper that the government had offered Bhutto, “a way out” from the stack of corruption charges being prepared against her. In an interview to “the nation” of Islamabad, Benazir said she would not leave. “My party men sought an assurance that I would not leave them and I have given those assurances,” she said. “There is no question of a deal when I am innocent. There are no charges against me.”
According to the “Independent” extremely worried Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders referred to the “deal” at the PPP Central Committee meeting on Saturday, and said if she left the country, the PPP would fragment and be subjected to a government witch hunt.
Meanwhile Begum Nusrat Bhutto arrived here Sunday night vowing that her daughter would return to power.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 24, 1990
