Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto Killed

In this image made from video provided by CNN, Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, center with white scarf, enters a vehicle, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was shot and killed Thursday in a suicide attack on her vehicle as it pulled away from a campaign rally.

(AP Photo/CNN)

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto leaves after addressing her last public rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. Opposition leader Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack as she drove away from a campaign rally just minutes after addressing thousands of supporters, aides said.

(AP Photo/B.K.Bangash)

In this image made from video provided by CNN, Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, is seen before walking to a waiting vehicle, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was shot and killed Thursday in a suicide attack on her vehicle as it pulled away from a campaign rally.

(AP Photo/CNN)

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto gets ready for her last public rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. Opposition leader Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack as she drove away from a campaign rally just minutes after addressing thousands of supporters, aides said.

(AP Photo/B.K.Bangash)

In this image made from video provided by CNN, Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, speaks to an aid before entering a vehicle, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A suicide bomber attacked a rally for Bhutto on Thursday and at least 20 people are feared dead, police and witnesses said. Bhutto was not harmed, an aide said.

(AP Photo/CNN)

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Opposition to Take Part in Pakistan Elections

By CARLOTTA GALL

Published: December 10, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 9 — The two main opposition parties led by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif said they would participate in Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, despite deep misgivings about whether the vote could be free and fair.

The move came as an opposition call to boycott the elections foundered Sunday.

Mr. Sharif, the former prime minister who returned from exile two weeks ago but has been barred from running himself, would marshal his party to contest elections, Ahsan Iqbal, a party spokesman said.

Mr. Sharif had called for a boycott of the election to protest the continued rule of Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, who imposed a state of emergency on Nov. 3, suspending the Constitution and dismissing the Supreme Court. But when Ms. Bhutto, also a former prime minister, made it clear that her party would run, Mr. Sharif could not afford to stay out of the race, Mr. Iqbal said.

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