September 2, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-us-Saani23,1423

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KARACHI, Sept 1: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has postponed plans to return to Pakistan after the election officials had rejected her documents to contest the polls.

“I have postponed my programme as my nomination papers have just now been rejected,” she said in an interview with the Karachi-based correspondent of the Deutche Welle radio.

She had previously hinted that she would return to Pakistan soon, but had never fixed a date.

“I will see where the situation leads; I will consult with my colleagues,” she said.

The Pakistan People’s Party chairperson said she was grateful to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif — her old political rival — for rescinding his approved nomination for the poll in protest of the rejection of her nominations.

“I have heard the news that Nawaz Sharif has taken back his nomination, and I am thankful to him (for this gesture).

It will be a setback to the military government,” she said. —AFP