Anti-Bhutto rally draws about 8,000 in Karachi .
KARACHI , Pakistan 1996-08-28
About 8,000 protesters marched through Karachi on Wednesday demanding the removal of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto , witnesses said .
" From here we will march to Islamabad and by God we will not let Benazir and ( Bhutto 's husband Asif Ali ) Zardari escape justice , " Nawaz Sharif , leader of the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League told a rally organised by a 16-party alliance .
Sharif accused Bhutto of corruption and nepotism , charges she has denied in the past .
Witnesses said protesters carrying colourful party flags walked for several miles , chanting anti-government slogans .
The event was part of an opposition campaign launched on August 14 , Pakistan 's independence day .
Sharif said similar rallies would be held in the Balochistan provincial capital Quetta and the Punjab provincial capital Lahore before an opposition march on the capital Islamabad .
" I promise the people of Karachi that those responsible for the extra-judicial killing of innocent youths would not be spared , " Sharif said .
Karachi 's ethnic Mohajir National Movement ( MQM ) accuses the government of killing many of its militants in cold blood .
The government has denied the charge and blames the MQM for much of the violence that killed 2,000 people in the city last year .
Political observers said the turn-out was disappointing for a city of about 12 million people , possibly indicating that the MQM , although a member of the opposition alliance , had not mobilised its supporters for the event .
The turbulent southern port has been calmer this year , but police say more than 300 people have died in political unrest .
The MQM speaks for Urdu-speaking Moslems who migrated from India at Partition in 1947 and their descendants .
Sharif , a former prime minister , is the main political rival of Bhutto , who defeated him in the October 1993 election .
He said only the removal of the government and an early election could save Pakistan from disaster . "
We will dislodge the Bhutto government .
It is a holy war for us , " he said .
Bhutto has vowed to complete her five-year term .