Pakistan poll campaign intensifies as Musharraf accused of wanting docile premier

Pakistan's election campaign intensified Monday with the three top political leaders traveling across the country to rally supporters and lash out at President Pervez Musharraf just two weeks before a hard-fought parliamentary poll.

The elections, demanded by Pakistan's Western allies, are seen as a crucial step in restoring democracy here after Musharraf's Nov. 3 declaration of emergency rule and his crackdown on the judiciary, political opponents and the independent media. Musharraf lifted the state of emergency after six weeks.

Former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who both returned from exile for the campaign, scheduled rallies in their opponents' home districts Monday in an effort to poach voters from each other. Both candidates, who pledged to work together against Musharraf, were hoping to win enough seats to loosen the former army chief's grip on power.

Sadiq ul-Farooq, a leader of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said Musharraf was pushing for a ruling party victory in the Jan. 8 election to preserve his authority.

"Musharraf would prefer a docile prime minister to legitimize all of the actions he had taken after imposing emergency rule," ul-Farooq said.

"Only people like Pervez Elahi can serve in this job, and President Musharraf is fully backing him," he told The Associated Press. Elahi, the candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, has emerged as a potential threat to win the premiership.

Sharif, who has been banned from running for office himself, was to address voters on behalf of his party's candidates Monday at a rally in southern Sindh province, Bhutto's home region. Bhutto traveled Monday to Sharif's eastern Punjab province for a large rally. Elahi was campaigning in the city of Jehlum, near his home district.

Both Sharif and Bhutto have accused Musharraf of rigging the vote in favor of the ruling party.

On Sunday, Bhutto accused Musharraf's government of failing to crush Islamic militants, days after a suicide bombing killed 56 people during prayers in a mosque in the northwest.

Hours after Bhutto spoke, a suicide bomb attack on a military convoy killed five civilians and four soldiers in Pakistan's troubled northwest, an army statement said. It said 13 civilians and 10 soldiers were also wounded.

Though Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, Taliban and al-Qaida fighters have extended their influence over parts of the northwest in the past two years, and have launched numerous suicide attacks in recent months.

On Friday a suicide bomber, apparently targeting former Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, blew himself up in a village mosque. Sherpao said the blast killed 56 people. As interior minister, Sherpao _ now a candidate in the election _ helped lead the government's fight against militants.