LONDON, Oct 20: The Guardian in its editorial on Saturday advised Benazir Bhutto to fight on, saying her traumatic homecoming after eight years of self-imposed exile has established that her return represented a force that so threatened a small section of the Pakistani society that they were prepared to blow her up — along with the entire leadership of her party.

The editorial did not preclude the possibility that rogue elements within the ISI, or former members of it, could have used suicide bombers provided by Islamic militants to try to get rid of Ms Bhutto.

“Despite all the power and money at their disposal, Pakistan’s military and their proxies have never managed to mobilise as many people in all their years of misrule.

“There is no doubt about the threat that a genuinely popular civilian political leader represents to the power of Pakistan’s billionaire generals. Whatever corruption charges still hang over the heads of Ms Bhutto and her husband in three different countries (and they cannot be ignored), they are a pale reflection of the money and land that the senior army generals have managed to accrue in the couple’s absence. Pakistanis who came out on to the streets in their thousands are aware of the corruption cloud hanging over the heads of the Bhuttos. But eight years of government propaganda and innumerable court actions against her have done nothing to dent her popularity.

What has diminished her standing within her own party has been her eight weeks of backroom dealing with Gen Musharraf. This produced an amnesty and paved the way for her return.

“This in itself should tell us where popular sympathies lie. Gen Musharraf’s shelf life as a political leader has expired. The only viable way for him to continue is as a figurehead president who could work as an interlocutor between the prime minister and the army.

For this to happen, Ms Bhutto has still to claw back substantial powers from the presidency, not least the power to sack the prime minister. Ever since she got off the plane yesterday there has been only one way forward — for Ms Bhutto to carry on campaigning for elections that are due to take place in January. “Like all choices in Pakistani politics, Ms Bhutto’s is a flawed one. She has already had two periods in government. Neither lived up to the hopes placed in her as Pakistan’s first female leader. Even so, if the process of restoring democratic rule is to work and if the country is to be released from the stranglehold of its military, Ms Bhutto must be part of it and her return is something to be welcomed.”