Pakistan decides "in principle" to delay poll

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani electoral officials have decided "in principle" to delay a January 8 poll after Benazir Bhutto's killing last week sparked turmoil in the nuclear-armed country, but put off a final decision until Wednesday.

The Election Commission said it had to consult political parties before announcing a new date.

The opposition leader's assassination on Thursday triggered bloodshed across the nation and rage against President Pervez Musharraf, casting doubts on Pakistan's stability and the transition to democratic rule in the country, a front-line ally in U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.

The death toll from violence since Bhutto's killing had reached 47 by Monday, but on Tuesday the situation in the country was relatively calm. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which can expect to reap a considerable sympathy vote after Bhutto's murder, and the other main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, want the election to go ahead as scheduled.

"It is up to the people of Pakistan to choose their future, and the time is now," Sharif and Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, now co-chairman of her party along with their 19-year old son, Bilawal, said in a joint statement.

"The January 8th elections must proceed as scheduled. This will not only be a tribute to the memory of Benazir Bhutto, but even more important, a reaffirmation of the cause of democracy for which she died," they said.

Election Commission official Kanwar Dilshad had told reporters earlier on Tuesday that "in principle" the election was being delayed and a new date would be announced on Wednesday.

VOTER ROLLS BURNT

The commission has said many of its offices in Sindh, Bhutto's home province, were burnt in rioting after her murder, and election material including voter rolls reduced to ashes.

"We will inform the political parties about the situation in Sindh where our 13 offices were burnt. We will inform them about the ground realities and then we will fix a date in consultation with them," Dilshad said.

Analysts expect the vote to be postponed to late February but also say a delay could lead to violence.

The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q) has said it favors a delay because of the security situation. Opponents say a delay would work to Musharraf's advantage. Hundreds of Bhutto supporters protested peacefully chanting "Bhutto is great" and shouting slogans against Musharraf on Tuesday in the town of Larkana near Bhutto's family home, where mourning storekeepers kept their shops shut.

Police arrested 50 people in the southern province of Sindh in connection with arson and vandalism in the wake of Bhutto's assassination, but the streets were calm. There was no repeat of the scenes of violence and vehicle and shop burning and no more of the killings that followed her death.

Pakistan is gripped by fears of capital flight if security worsens. Pakistan share prices were down three percent on Tuesday.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said if the election could be held in safety "then that's probably what should happen".

DATE CERTAIN

"The key here is that there be a date certain for elections in Pakistan. We would certainly have concerns about some sort of indefinite postponement," Casey said on Monday.

Bhutto, relatively liberal by Pakistan's standards and an opponent of Islamic militancy, ended her self-imposed exile in October. Hours after arriving home she narrowly escaped a suicide blast that struck her motorcade, killing about 140 people.

Her death wrecked U.S. hopes of a power-sharing deal between her and Musharraf, who took power in a military coup in 1999 but left the army in November to become a civilian president.

The PPP has suggested Musharraf's government is trying to cover up the truth about Bhutto's killing and bears at least some of the responsibility.

"I think whoever has to gain from her death and definitely the sitting government has to gain ... they should be held responsible," Bhutto's widower Zardari told CNN in an interview.

The government has blamed an al Qaeda-linked militant based on the Afghan border, Baitullah Mehsud, for the attack but many Pakistanis believe Bhutto's old enemies, perhaps from within the powerful security agencies, were involved.

(Additional reporting by Faisal Aziz, Simon Gardner, Hamid Sheikh, Imtiaz Shah, Sahar Ahmad and Asim Tanveer; Writing by Jerry Norton; Editing by Roger Crab)