Benazir Bhutto Claimed Bin Laden Assassinated By Omar Sheikh

http://current.com/1dovmkc

TRANSCRIPTS Transcript Providers

Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Benazir Bhutto Reacts To State Of Emergency; Crisis Of Violence In Pakistan

Aired November 3, 2007 - 17:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BENAZIR BHUTTO, FMR. PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: My country seems to have lost control over its own territory. Our armed forces, when they venture into the tribal areas, are either being kidnapped or they're being shot at. There's a high casualty in line. The moral simply isn't there and it's being propagated that our armed forces are fighting their own people. When, in fact, our armed forces are fighting a battle to save the unity and integrity of Pakistan. I believe that we have to involve the people in saving Pakistan. We need to go to the people of the tribal areas, empower them, give them a sense of participation --
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: But isn't fear keeping a lot of these people from cooperating in that kind of manner that you speak of because the threat is so tremendous. You know, folks are seeing their family members cut down or even their own lives jeopardized if they do act as, what some might call to be traitors.

BHUTTO: Yes, it is fear. You see, there is a minority that has the weapons and that minority is holding the population hostage. It's like -- when I returned to Pakistan on October 18th, the people came out with joy and happiness to celebrate my return because it gave them hope that democracy would come and that their problems would be solved.

But then the terrorists struck. Unless we can give the protection of the state to ordinary people, the militants will continue to hold them hostage. I feel that the present regime has failed in implementing the authority of the government and writ (ph) of the state, it's the collapse of governance, which has thrown people in the tribal areas to the militant wolves.

WHITFIELD: So, Ms. Bhutto, am I hearing you correctly in saying that you almost directly blame General Pervez Musharraf for helping to produce these safe havens in Pakistan, where there is terrorist activity, where, perhaps, in these safe havens someone like the Osama bin Laden, the most-wanted terrorist in the world, just might be taking refuge?

BHUTTO: I wouldn't like to go so far as to blame General Musharraf directly, but I would certainly say that many people in his administration and his security apparatus responsible for internal security make me feel very uneasy. And I believe that tribal areas of Pakistan could not have become safe havens without collusion of some of the elements in the present administration. And this is why I believe that regime change is very important.

I had hoped --

WHITFIELD: Do you Musharraf -- I'm sorry. Do you think General Musharraf knows where Osama bin Laden is?

BHUTTO: I don't think General Musharraf personally knows where Osama bin Laden is, but I do feel that people around him are many who are associated with the earlier military dictatorship of the '80s. That military dictatorship formed the Iran Mujahideen. The Mujahideen subsequently became Al Qaeda and Taliban. So I believe that break has not been made between the supporters and sympathizers of the Mujahideen and thereby, of the Taliban and Al Qaeda that is necessary. We need an administration and a security apparatus that does not have people with links to the Iran Jihad of the '80s.

WHITFIELD: So, Ms. Bhutto, are you also saying, then, that Musharraf's rule is also in part being dictated by the many assassination attempts on his life, those who had been threatening him as he continues on with this commitment toward the war on terrorism with the U.S.?

BHUTTO: Partially, yes. But I'm also saying that it's the governance that has failed. For example, this week one of the militant leaders, Amoldi Fakir (ph), held the press conference in the tribal areas, and he gave a direct threat to me that if I came Raul Bendi (ph), then his men were going to make another assassination attempt. And I got a taste of their kind of assassination attempt in Karachi.

Now, I ask myself, how can a wanted terrorist hold a press conference and the police not know, the administration not know, or are they simply looking the other way? And what is our internal security doing at a time that a wanted terrorist, wanted by the international community, wanted by Pakistan, is openly holding a press conference in the tribal areas of Pakistan? And this is what worries me, the fact that the administration is looking the other way when the militants operate.

WHITFIELD: And let me ask you before we let you go, and we appreciate your time and the extensive dialogue you're giving us now.

What was the motivation for you to return to Pakistan, one? And the motivation to return today and speak out in this manner about General Musharraf's intentions on this state of emergency?

BHUTTO: The people of Pakistan have given me their love, they've given me their trust, and I felt that it was my duty to come back to Pakistan for the election campaign of 2007, so that I could help them move towards democracy. I left for Dubai to see my children who had been very traumatized by the television scene of the carnage that took place upon my return.

And then I heard that emergency was going to be declared, so I cut back my visit to Dubai and rushed back to Pakistan to give support to the people. The people here have trusted me and they have loved me. And I feel it's my duty to repay that trust and that love by helping them save the country by bringing democracy, because democracy means addressing the real needs of the people, making them partners in government.

WHITFIELD: Was there a moment when you thought, perhaps, you would not be given access to come back Karachi, given that this is taking place in the middle of a media black out, in the middle of this state of emergency?

BHUTTO: Yes, I was very uncertain as I took the plane back as to what would happen when I reached Karachi. And I do appreciate the fact that General Musharraf has not taken the step to personally move against me, and that no arrest orders have been given for me, up to date. But at the same time, I feel it's very important for him to seek a political solution, and not a solution through force.

Suspension of the constitution means suspension of the rule of law.

WHITFIELD: Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, in Karachi. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. Your very candid and strong assessments and responses to General Pervez Musharraf's installation of a state of emergency today.

BHUTTO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield in the NEWSROOM. Tony Harris is up with much more of the NEWSROOM.

This is what happens when you put all of your eggs in on basket.

Fine...live with your paranoia.

Aired November 3, 2007 - 17:00 ET

WHITFIELD: So, Ms. Bhutto, am I hearing you correctly in saying that you almost directly blame General Pervez Musharraf for helping to produce these safe havens in Pakistan, where there is terrorist activity, where, perhaps, in these safe havens someone like the Osama bin Laden, the most-wanted terrorist in the world, just might be taking refuge?

BHUTTO: I wouldn't like to go so far as to blame General Musharraf directly, but I would certainly say that many people in his administration and his security apparatus responsible for internal security make me feel very uneasy. And I believe that tribal areas of Pakistan could not have become safe havens without collusion of some of the elements in the present administration. And this is why I believe that regime change is very important.

I had hoped --

WHITFIELD: Do you Musharraf -- I'm sorry. Do you think General Musharraf knows where Osama bin Laden is?

BHUTTO: I don't think General Musharraf personally knows where Osama bin Laden is, but I do feel that people around him are many who are associated with the earlier military dictatorship of the '80s. That military dictatorship formed the Iran Mujahideen. The Mujahideen subsequently became Al Qaeda and Taliban. So I believe that break has not been made between the supporters and sympathizers of the Mujahideen and thereby, of the Taliban and Al Qaeda that is necessary. We need an administration and a security apparatus that does not have people with links to the Iran Jihad of the '80s.

WHITFIELD: So, Ms. Bhutto, are you also saying, then, that Musharraf's rule is also in part being dictated by the many assassination attempts on his life, those who had been threatening him as he continues on with this commitment toward the war on terrorism with the U.S.?

Miss Samantha420, See if you can pull you head of of the cloud of smoke that surrounds it.

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0711/03/cnr.06.html

It was quite obvious that she mis-spoke and the BBC was simply trying to avoid confusion. If you look at other interviews with her before and after the Al Jazeera one she talks about Bin Laden but never claims he was murdered by Omar Sheikh. Get a life people.