NEW YORK, June 4: Saying that “It is a battle for the heart and soul of Pakistan,” former prime minister Benazir Bhutto told an American newspaper that she would return to Pakistan to take part in the elections, asserting: “My fear is if we don’t act in these elections, by the next elections it might be too late.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Ms Bhutto observed: “It is also a battle for the rest of the Muslim world and the world at large. It is not just Pakistan. What we are doing in Pakistan has much larger implications not only on Afghanistan and India, but in my view for the larger world.”

Ms Bhutto observes in the interview -- spread over eight column with analysis -- that “two battle lines are being drawn in Pakistan, military dictatorship versus democracy, and moderate Islam versus extremism.” She said anyone who had lived in Pakistan knew that there was a group of people who believed in a war against the West. “And it is not just that, it is the hatred that they preach.”

The newspaper noted that a negotiated transition to democracy remained her preferred option, because she said, violent confrontation could quickly be usurped by extremists.

“If the streets hold sway, then it is anyone’s guess that actually captures the movement,” she said. “After all, when there was a revolution in Iran, nobody expected the religious parties to triumph.”

Commenting on reports of contacts between her party and the government, she said: “The fact that he was ready to engage with the PPP was positive. I think he toyed with the idea of moderate forces getting together.”