NEW YORK, Oct 1: The former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, accused the Inter Services Intelligence of pre-poll rigging and maintained that it was the ISI which was calling the shots in the Oct 10 elections.

Talking to Dawn here Ms Bhutto suggested that the ISI planned to create a wedge between President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the elected or selected parliament in order to hold sway over the body politic of Pakistan.

“General Musharraf is either insincere or inefficient as a leader,” she asserted.

“He professes he will hold fair elections, but the elections in Pakistan have been blatantly rigged. He said he could end political victimization, but political victimization is continuing,” she added.

Ms Bhutto, who has been in self-exile for the last five years said that she was living with a suitcase in London ready to go back, but they have closed all doors for me from participating in the upcoming elections.

Saying that, “I would risk everything to go back to Pakistan if there was a credible chance of my participation,” she pointed out that even the courts and judges have been coerced in giving judgments against her.

Asked if she believes the elections are rigged and sham why does her party not boycott the elections, Ms Bhutto said: “We want to expose the claims of the regime that the elections will be free, fair and transparent.”

When pressed that her return to Pakistan could boost her party’s chances in the elections or rally the people in her support, she said: “It was a judgment call, I do not think that my return would serve the party’s interest. In fact it could detract it.”

In her interview and speeches, Ms Bhutto continued to stress that the ISI was still aiding and abetting the Al Qaeda and Taliban by holding forth on its theory of “strategic depth.”

“The old retired generals like Hamid Gul, etc., are still the thinkers and policy-makers, and continue to guide the agency. They are running the whole show,” she observed.