Will Bhutto bring democracy to Pakistan?
Her whole life has been spent in opposition to Pakistan's military rulers. Her father was overthrown and then executed by General Zia ul Haq. She fled after General Musharraf took power (and many would say because of all the corruption charges filed against her).
Today, Benazir Bhutto has made a triumphal return to Karachi after apparently having done a deal with the enemy. Musharraf has agreed to have charges against her dropped, and there is talk that the constitution might be amended to allow her a third term as Prime Minister.
Is Benazir good for Pakistan?
Do you trust her motives?
Is she strong enough to deal with extremists?
Is she committed enough to improve the lives of Pakistanis?
Will she bring democracy, or further misrule?
Are her close ties with America a good or bad sign?
Are there any alternatives?
RETURN TO MOGADISHU
We will get to this tonight... Martin has been speaking to people in Mogadishu who describe horrific violence. It seems factions loyal to Somalia's Prime Minister and President are fighting each other to control food aid. Whoever controls the food, effectively controls the country. That appears to be why the head of the UN's World Food Programme was abducted. Talk about cutting off your nose... as a consequence, food is no longer being distributed to tens of thousands of hungry people.
Recently, journalists with HornAfrik, one of the few credible organisations still operating in Mogadishu, were killed in a car bomb. But we're getting one of their colleagues on the programme to help us understand what's going on.
If you've got any questions-- don't be afraid to ask. Somalia is one of those places that I struggle to understand sometimes, given its complexity, so you'll be doing me a favor by sending in any question, no matter how basic, that you want answered.
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