By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Benazir Bhutto in Cincinnati Monday. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistan prime minister who is exiled from her homeland, came to Cincinnati on Monday to urge Americans to help fight the widening "gulf'' tearing at the Islamic world.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, the "Islamic extremists are drowning out moderate voices" abroad and in the United States, Ms. Bhutto said shortly before she spoke to an audience at the Aronoff Center, downtown, as the first guest speaker in the "Smart Talk'' lecture series.

The first woman to head a predominantly Muslim country, Ms. Bhutto was elected to the office of prime minister in Pakistan in 1988.

She arrived in Cincinnati from her home in Dubai to speak on "the price of democracy."

Ms. Bhutto praised U.S. efforts, but said America should push harder for democratic reforms abroad so that those oppressed have another choice besides Islamic extremism and military dictatorships.

"Democracies do not go to war with other democracies.

"The political way to tackle extremism - along with America's homeland security efforts - is to promote democracy around the world," Ms. Bhutto said.

"I'm concerned with the widening gap in the Muslim world. Dictators might have power, but they do not control the public," the former prime minister said.

Lack of democratic choices and free elections help drive people to extremist factions, Ms. Bhutto said.

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1953, Ms. Bhutto attended Radcliffe College and Oxford University. She won the Bruno Kreisky Award for Human Rights in 1988, and served two terms as prime minister - 1988-90 and 1993-96.

"America is a great country with great freedoms. I'm asking the average American ... not to judge the Muslim world by (people like) Osama bin Laden ... they are criminals."

Other lecture series speakers are Karen Hughes (Jan. 22), Julie Nixon Eisenhower (March 10), Mia Farrow (May 22) and Ann Richards (June 9).

You can buy tickets online and get more information at Cincinnati.com

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com