Bhutto death raises doubts over Pakistan election

By Robert Birsel

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has thrown into doubt whether Pakistan can hold an election in 10 days time that was meant to complete a transition to civilian rule in the nuclear-armed U.S. ally.

Opposition leader Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack on Thursday as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi. The government has blamed al Qaeda.

The United States and other Western allies have urged President Pervez Musharraf to press ahead with polls they hope will bring stability to a country emerging from eight years of military rule while facing mounting violence from Islamist militants allied to al Qaeda.

Prospects for a smooth poll look bleak with the head of the country's biggest political party dead and the other main opposition party announcing an election boycott in response to her murder.

Bhutto had hoped to win the January 8 vote, though most analysts had expected a three-way split between her, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and a party that backs President Pervez Musharraf.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro is consulting parties about the vote but said the schedule remained in place.

But with Bhutto's supporters rioting in parts of the country and suicide bombers on the prowl, some analysts expect only more bloodshed if the government pushes ahead as planned.

"It's very, very difficult to hold elections unless tempers are cooled off and it's not possible in such a short time," said retired general and political analyst Talat Masood.

The Election Commission said 11 of its offices in Sindh had been torched and voting material including electoral rolls destroyed. Security in two northwestern regions also raised doubts about voting there, it said.

It would hold an emergency meeting on Monday, it said.

Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, the leader of Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Islam, an Islamist party strong in the volatile North West Frontier Province, said it was hard to see how people could vote safely.

"The situation in the country is very critical. Especially in Sindh province," Rehman told Reuters.

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Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, whose small party was already planning to boycott the poll, also questioned whether it was feasible to hold an election.

"It's not a question of fair, it's just not possible," he told BBC radio. "You've seen the scenes of people rioting. There is so much tension on the street, how are they going to have polling booths manned?"