Pakistan plans to ban political rallies

The Pakistan government on Monday rejected former premier Benazir Bhutto's demand to seek international help to probe the suicide attack on her motorcade and said it plans to impose a ban on rallies before the general election, sparking an angry reaction from opposition parties.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao dismissed Bhutto's call to involve foreign agencies in the probe into the two blasts in Karachi that killed 165 people on Thursday night, saying Pakistani authorities have "excellent and experienced investigators" who can handle the investigation.

The Pakistani investigators are fully capable of conducting the probe and the government "completely rejected" the demand by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party to bring in foreign experts, he told reporters in Islamabad.

Bhutto had said in Karachi on Sunday that her party wanted the government to seek international assistance in the probe.

Sherpao also said the government plans to ban election rallies on security grounds.

The administration has prepared a "comprehensive code of conduct" to regulate activities during the campaign for the general election due in mid-January, he said.

Political parties and their leaders will soon be taken into confidence on this code of conduct, one of the key features of which is a ban on political rallies and processions, Sherpao said.

There will be no ban on public meetings, but these will have to be held by parties only at specified places.

No party or leader would be allowed to organise processions or rallies before a public meeting, Sherpao said.

His comments provoked an angry reaction from the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who plans to return from exile in November to lead his party in the election campaign.

A PPP spokesperson said the party would defy the government move as rallies are an "essential part" of any election campaign to reach out to the people.

The PML-N termed the move as a "plan" to ensure that the election favour President Pervez Musharraf.

"Musharraf wants to impose this ban on rallies to stop popular opposition leaders from reaching their voters before the parliamentary elections," PML-N leader Sadiq ul-Farooq said.