Islamabad, October 23
Pakistan has put former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on the Exit Control List (ECL), banning her from leaving the country.

Benazir’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the Pakistan People’s Party, which she heads, had written to the Interior Ministry to remove her name from the ECL.

Talks halted Talks between aides of President Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto on forming a caretaker set-up to supervise Pakistan’s general election have been stopped by the government till the Supreme Court decides on the military ruler’s re-election in uniform.

He described the government action as illegal, unconstitutional and against fundamental rights, News Network International reported on Tuesday.

Local TV channels have said that Benazir plans to fly to Dubai to visit members of her family in the near future.

She had filed a report with the police naming three people behind the attack on her procession shortly after midnight on Thursday, which left at least 139 people dead and over 500 injured.

She asked the government to seek help from international terrorism experts in the probe, saying she was not satisfied with the investigation so far. The government rejected her demand and said that the local investigators were capable of conducting the inquiry.

Meanwhile, Benazir Bhutto has received a threat that she would be targeted by female suicide bombers, one of her close aides said today.

Farooq Naik, a senior lawyer and member of the Senate or upper house of Parliament, said the chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party had received a letter that contained the threat.

The letter was purportedly written by the leader of the suicide squad, Naik told Dawn News channel.

Naik indicated that the bombers might be linked to terrorist groups like Al-Qaida.

The development came five days after a suicide attack on Bhutto’s homecoming rally. — PTI