September 26, 2006	Tuesday	Ramazan 2, 1427

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WASHINGTON, Sept 25: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is dealt leniently in President Pervez Musharraf’s book, which deals with her rival politician, Nawz Sharif, much more harshly.

She is usually criticised along with Mr Sharif. There are few direct comments on her personality or performance.

There are eight references to her in the book, ‘In The Line Of Fire,’ and six to her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

In the first reference, Gen Musharraf recalls that one of Asif Zardari’s friends had asked him to become Ms Bhutto’s military secretary but he declined the offer on his commanding officer’s advice.

“One day, out of the blue, a friend of Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Zardari came to call on me. Ms Benazir was prime minister at the time. The friend’s name was Javed Pasha. I had never seen him before.

“Pasha suggested that I become Benazir’s military secretary, My boss, Major-Gen Farrakh … rejected Pasha’s suggestion outright, saying, ‘You are a professional soldier and should continue with your professional work.’ … My career was saved. Had I become her military secretary I would have gone down with her and her government,” he writes.

In the second reference, Gen Musharraf recalls how after the C-130 crash and Gen Zia’s death, Benazir Bhutto formed a coalition government and became prime minister in November 1988,

“During the period from November 1988 to October 1999, a span of nearly eleven years, no national or provincial assembly completed its term. The office of prime minister changed four times. We had three different presidents.

“Never in the history of Pakistan had we seen such a combination of the worst kind of governance – or rather, a nearly total lack of governance – along with corruption and plunder of national wealth.

During these 11 years, every army chief –- there were four of them –- eventually clashed with the prime minister. The head of the government invariably got on the wrong side of the president and the army chief.

“Advice to Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto fell on deaf ears, leading every time to confrontation.”

In another reference, the president recalls: “New elections made Benazir Bhutto prime minister for a second time, again in a coalition. She picked up where she had left off. In 1997, the president, a nominee of Benazir Bhutto’s party, dismissed her government.”

He then goes back to criticising both politicians together: “They had misgoverned the nation”.