Treacherous Political Situation Takes Another Blow.
International Herald Tribune - By Salman Masood and Graham Bowley
Graham Bowley reported and David Rohde contributed reporting from New York.
The Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated near the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday. Witnesses said Bhutto, who was appearing at a political campaign rally, was fired upon at close range by a gunman, and then struck by shrapnel from a blast that the government said was caused by a suicide bomber.
Bhutto, who had twice been the country's prime minister and was a leading contender to be the next prime minister after elections in January, was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 p.m. At least a dozen more people were killed in the attack, but some reports said there were at least 20 dead.
The exact circumstances surrounding the assassination were still unclear. Senior officials in Bhutto's party said she had finished addressing the rally and was sitting in a car waving at the crowd when she was hit in the head by a sniper in a nearby building. They said the car moved on for another 45 meters, or 50 yards, before a suicide attacker blew himself up.
Other witnesses described a single assassin opening fire on Bhutto and her entourage, hitting her at least once in the neck and once in the chest, before blowing himself up. Dr. Abbas Hayat, professor of pathology at Rawalpindi General Hospital where Bhutto was taken, said doctors tried to revive her for 35 minutes, but that she had shrapnel wounds and head wounds and was in heart failure. He said he could not confirm whether she had bullet wounds.
A close aide to President Pervez Musharraf blamed Islamic militants for the assassination, and said it was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Musharraf declared a three-day mourning period, and condemnation of the assassination flowed in from around the world.
President George W. Bush said: "The United States strongly condemns this cowardly attack by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy."
Bhutto's death is the latest blow to Pakistan's treacherous political situation, and leaves her party leaderless in the short term and unable to effectively compete in hotly contested parliamentary elections that are two weeks away, according to Hasan Askari Rizvi, a leading Pakistani political and military analyst.
At the hospital where Bhutto was taken, a large number of police began to cordon off the area as angry party workers smashed windows. Many protesters shouted "Musharraf Dog."
Bhutto had been warned by the government before her return to Pakistan that she faced threats to her security. In October, Bhutto survived another deadly suicide attack in the southern city of Karachi on the day she returned from years of self-imposed exile. Bhutto blamed extremist Islamic groups who she said wanted to take over the country for that attack, which narrowly missed her but killed 134 people. But she also complained that the government had taken insufficient steps to safeguard her parade.
The government has maintained that she ignored their warnings against such public gatherings and that holding them placed herself and her followers in unnecessary danger.
The assassination comes just days after Musharraf lifted a state of emergency in the country, which he had used to suspend the Constitution and arrest thousands of political opponents, and which he said he had imposed in part because of terrorist threats by extremists in Pakistan.
With frustration in Washington growing over Musharraf's shortcomings, and his delays in returning the country to civilian rule, Bhutto had become an appealing solution for the country. She was openly critical of Musharraf's ineffectiveness at dealing with Islamic militants and welcomed American involvement, unlike another Musharraf rival and former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.
Bush administration officials began working behind the scenes over the summer to help Bhutto and Musharraf create a power-sharing deal to orchestrate a transition to democracy that would leave Musharraf in the presidency, while not making a mockery of Bush's attempts to push democracy in the Muslim world.
Bhutto's assassination immediately raised questions about whether the parliamentary elections scheduled for January will now go ahead or be postponed. Musharraf was carrying out an emergency meeting with top government officials Thursday following Bhutto's death, the aide to Musharraf said. He said no decision had been made on whether to delay the national elections.
The aide dismissed complaints from members of Bhutto's party that the government failed to provide adequate security for her.
Asked if the bombing was planned in the country's lawless tribal areas - where bin Laden and other Qaeda members are thought to be hiding - the aide to Musharraf said "must be, must be."
Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.
(c) 2007 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
International Herald Tribune - By Salman Masood and Graham Bowley
Graham Bowley reported and David Rohde contributed reporting from New York.
The Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated near the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday. Witnesses said Bhutto, who was appearing at a political campaign rally, was fired upon at close range by a gunman, and then struck by shrapnel from a blast that the government said was caused by a suicide bomber.
Bhutto, who had twice been the country's prime minister and was a leading contender to be the next prime minister after elections in January, was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 p.m. At least a dozen more people were killed in the attack, but some reports said there were at least 20 dead.
The exact circumstances surrounding the assassination were still unclear. Senior officials in Bhutto's party said she had finished addressing the rally and was sitting in a car waving at the crowd when she was hit in the head by a sniper in a nearby building. They said the car moved on for another 45 meters, or 50 yards, before a suicide attacker blew himself up.
Other witnesses described a single assassin opening fire on Bhutto and her entourage, hitting her at least once in the neck and once in the chest, before blowing himself up. Dr. Abbas Hayat, professor of pathology at Rawalpindi General Hospital where Bhutto was taken, said doctors tried to revive her for 35 minutes, but that she had shrapnel wounds and head wounds and was in heart failure. He said he could not confirm whether she had bullet wounds.
A close aide to President Pervez Musharraf blamed Islamic militants for the assassination, and said it was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Musharraf declared a three-day mourning period, and condemnation of the assassination flowed in from around the world.
President George W. Bush said: "The United States strongly condemns this cowardly attack by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy."
Bhutto's death is the latest blow to Pakistan's treacherous political situation, and leaves her party leaderless in the short term and unable to effectively compete in hotly contested parliamentary elections that are two weeks away, according to Hasan Askari Rizvi, a leading Pakistani political and military analyst.
At the hospital where Bhutto was taken, a large number of police began to cordon off the area as angry party workers smashed windows. Many protesters shouted "Musharraf Dog."
Bhutto had been warned by the government before her return to Pakistan that she faced threats to her security. In October, Bhutto survived another deadly suicide attack in the southern city of Karachi on the day she returned from years of self-imposed exile. Bhutto blamed extremist Islamic groups who she said wanted to take over the country for that attack, which narrowly missed her but killed 134 people. But she also complained that the government had taken insufficient steps to safeguard her parade.
The government has maintained that she ignored their warnings against such public gatherings and that holding them placed herself and her followers in unnecessary danger.
The assassination comes just days after Musharraf lifted a state of emergency in the country, which he had used to suspend the Constitution and arrest thousands of political opponents, and which he said he had imposed in part because of terrorist threats by extremists in Pakistan.
With frustration in Washington growing over Musharraf's shortcomings, and his delays in returning the country to civilian rule, Bhutto had become an appealing solution for the country. She was openly critical of Musharraf's ineffectiveness at dealing with Islamic militants and welcomed American involvement, unlike another Musharraf rival and former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.
Bush administration officials began working behind the scenes over the summer to help Bhutto and Musharraf create a power-sharing deal to orchestrate a transition to democracy that would leave Musharraf in the presidency, while not making a mockery of Bush's attempts to push democracy in the Muslim world.
Bhutto's assassination immediately raised questions about whether the parliamentary elections scheduled for January will now go ahead or be postponed. Musharraf was carrying out an emergency meeting with top government officials Thursday following Bhutto's death, the aide to Musharraf said. He said no decision had been made on whether to delay the national elections.
The aide dismissed complaints from members of Bhutto's party that the government failed to provide adequate security for her.
Asked if the bombing was planned in the country's lawless tribal areas - where bin Laden and other Qaeda members are thought to be hiding - the aide to Musharraf said "must be, must be."
Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.
(c) 2007 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
