ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto has expressed the fear that fanatics and extremists would try to bring about a clash of religions and cultures , but hoped that this could be averted.

Ms Bhutto said this while addressing the Indianapolis colloquium at the Indiana University, USA, titled "Women position in Islamic societies" on Friday.

She said few people realized that Islam was a monotheistic religion and part of the traditions of Hazrat Abraham. She said Abraham, Moses and Jesus are the prophets of Islam as much as they are revered in Judaism and Christianity.

The former premier said health, education, literacy, gender equality and freedom of press as well as respect of labour and peasant rights were keys to develop any society. However, such policy promotions needed peaceful borders, which is why the PPP governments worked for defusing tensions with neighbouring countries.

She said as a woman leader she was particularly concerned about the plight of her sisters. This led her government to appoint women judges to the judiciary and had she remained in office, there would have been women judges in the Supreme Court of Pakistan today, she added.

She recalled that the PPP had instituted a new programme of hiring women police officers to investigate crimes of domestic violence against women.

"The development of that police force was stunted following the undemocratic end of the PPP government," she said.

Ms Bhutto said she and her party believed in an open and transparent society. She said fax machines, satellite dishes, student unions, labour unions, women taking part in sports and other informative and technological activities were banned before her government and it was the PPP government which lifted the ban on these activities to modernize society.

Democracy in Pakistan is important because an Islamic world at the crossroads, a modern Pakistan would be an inspiration whereas otherwise the danger was that fanaticism and ignorance could grow.

She said had the elections in Afghanistan been held in 1990, perhaps the Taliban and Al Qaeda would never have emerged. She urged the international community to promote stability by strengthening democratic values.

The PPP leader said she had known both successes and setbacks but never wavered from the commitment she made in the death cell with her father. This was a commitment to fight for democracy and human rights and that she would continue to do so.

She said the path of leadership was strewn with thorns, adding often personal happiness had to be sacrificed for national causes. She said she felt sad that because of her choices, her family too had been made to suffer. However, she had to carry this burden of sadness because of her commitment to a democratic and modern future for her people.

She said both her governments were destabilized by extremist elements who did not believe in democracy or a government led by a woman. She said the judicial processes were violated to wage a psychological war against her, her family and the party.

Expressing her resolve to fight for the rights of people, she said she was taught not to take "no" for an answer but to answer to the call of conscience. Hence she refused to take "no" for an answer when people said as a foreign woman she could not be elected president of the Oxford Union or that as a woman expecting a baby she could not campaign in an election or that as a woman in a Muslim society she could not run for chief executive.

She said she was grateful to the people of Pakistan for supporting her when she challenged traditions to modernize Pakistan and bring prosperity through modernization.