Bhutto Launches Her Campaign

She will meet Sharif Monday to discuss possible boycott
By John Lister,  Newser User
Posted Dec 1, 2007 1:05 PM CST
Bhutto Launches Her Campaign
An armed security stands guard as Pakistans opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, left, takes part in a rally for an election campaign in Peshawar, Pakistan on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007. Bhutto arrived in northwestern Pakistan to launch her election campaign, a day after unveiling her party's platform despite...   (Associated Press)

Benazir Bhutto set aside the possibility of boycotting next month's elections for the time being and launched her campaign in hostile territory today, the AP reports. She traveled to northwest Pakistan, a stronghold of hardline Islamic factions that oppose female political involvement. Bhutto plans to meet fellow opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Monday to discuss a boycott of the Jan. 8 vote.

"There are many hurdles in the way of free and fair elections, but we are not afraid of them," Bhutto said. Sharif says he'll sit the elections out unless President Musharraf reinstates sacked judges. Government officials, meanwhile, blocked his brother from running today, saying he defaulted on a bank loan and faces separate criminal charges. (More Benazir Bhutto stories.)

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