Dubai: Benazir Bhutto has acknowledged there is a "grave threat" to her person and that the forces ranged against her "will do anything to stop me."
In an exclusive chat after a press conference 24 hours before the former prime minister ends an eight-year self-imposed exile and returns home, an emotional but feisty Bhutto threw down the gauntlet to her opponents.
"The forces that removed me from office in the first place, that hounded me out of the country have gathered strength, the groups that thrive in these kind of situations, they don't want me to return and change status quo." She did not specify who these forces are.
Returning at a time when the judiciary is hearing a petition against the National Reconciliation Ordinance, brokered with President Pervez Musharraf's government that ensures all corruption cases are dropped, she disputed the suggestion she could be arrested on arrival now that the NRO was on hold.
Creating confusion
"I cannot be arrested. Whoever is saying this is either ill-informed or deliberately creating confusion," she said, adding that the chances of an arrest were "remote as there are no cases against me, the lower courts have dismissed all charges including the absentee case."
Her husband Asif Ali Zardari, who returned to Dubai to care for their two daughters Bakhtawar and Aseefa, will stay on but accompanying her will be London-based younger sister Sanam, her two nephews and several close friends. "The people will be there to protect me," she said as close adviser Rahman Malik revealed there would be five rings of security including three bullet proof cars for her road travel, a helicopter and "human shields".
In a message to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government she said that if she came to power in Pakistan she would work with New Delhi to create a South Asian free market. "I will work sincerely towards resolving the Kashmir issue but will not let that stand in the way of proceeding on other matters such as freeing restrictions on trade, tourism and travel."
The first thing she will do on arrival? "I am heading straight for the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam. But I have missed so many things about my homeland, missed breathing its air, walking on its soil, missed sharing the joy and grief of my party workers."
Asked if she felt a sense of déjà vu, a reprise to 1986 when she returned to a rapturous welcome she said "it was a different era, and yet while much has changed, much remains the same. We had Gen Zia then, we have Gen Musharraf now. Close to a million came to greet me. I really don't know how many will come tomorrow. Everyone says there'll be more than a million."
Neena Gopal is an analyst on Asia
