Pakistan's Bhutto Skipping Anti-Musharraf Meeting

An aide to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says she has decided not to attend a conference of parties opposed to Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf.

The aide says representatives from the Pakistan People's Party would instead attend the conference later this month in London.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is hosting the conference.

President Pervez Musharraf has said he will not allow either exiled former prime minister to run for office in elections expected by next January.

General Musharraf has said Ms. Bhutto would be put on trial for alleged corruption if she returns to Pakistan, and Mr. Sharif would be put on a plane back to Saudi Arabia.

General Musharraf ousted him in a bloodless coup in 1999.

After the coup, Mr. Sharif and Ms. Bhutto joined what they call an Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.