Benazir Bhutto Killed In Pakistan

[snapcat]

NBC News, and other media outlets, are reporting that opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been killed by a suicide bomber in Pakistan.

From HuffPo ...

...
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.


"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack.
A senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, confirmed that Bhutto had died.


Her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf. Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.


RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) _ Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.



...

 

[Negasta]

And so the shit hits the fan...

What are you willing to bet that there will be civil war in Pakistan before the end of next week?

 

[TheTalkingAsshole]

It's certainly not surprising since security for her was pretty poor. For all of the criticism Musharraf received in the past month for clamping down on civil rights...he'll certainly have to do it again or risk the militant Islamists gaining control of their nuclear arsenal in a civil war.

 

[teadrinker]

It's a terrible business. However, Bhutto's support in Pakistan was becoming marginal - I met a while back two senior Pakistani educators (both women), who had no love for Bhutto at all. But I hope that the people of Pakistan will eventually understand that there are better ways of voicing political dissatisfaction than murder.

-T.

 

[MystikWizard]

FOX News was apparently claiming Al Qaeda was responsible. What a surprise. In FOX's eyes, Al Qaeda is responsible for every single thing that goes wrong in the world. Poverty will probably be blamed on them next.

I think I read that the U.S. is possibly looking to send troops there next week to provide order. Just like we provide order with Iraq apparently.

I guess we couldn't invade and occupy Iran so Pakistan will have to do for now.

 

[iman]

We don't have any troops to send anywhere.

 

[MystikWizard]

^ That would have Iran surrounded though. Plus, we'd have troops in a country where OBL is hiding! However, i don't believe the US military will get troops into Pakistan. Where did you read this?

Washington Post earlier today.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/12/musharrafs_woes_have_opened_a.html?nav=rss_blog


Also, apparently Al Qaeda is taking credit for the attacks, after all. We're investigating their claims to this attack as we speak.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/12/us-checking-al.html

 

[springboksfan]

Wow. I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming. So now Musharraf has eliminated his biggest opponent. This is not good.

 

[star-warrior]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7161590.stm

Benazir Bhutto killed in attack

Benazir Bhutto had been addressing rallies in many parts of Pakistan

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suicide attack.
Ms Bhutto - the first woman PM in an Islamic state - was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when a gunman shot her in the neck and set off a bomb.
At least 16 other people died in the attack and several more were injured.
President Pervez Musharraf condemned the killing and urged people to remain calm but angry protests have gripped cities across the country.
Security forces have been placed on a state of "red alert" nationwide.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. Analysts believe Islamist militants to be the most likely group behind it.
Map: Scene of the assassination

Ms Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), had served as prime minister from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996, and had been campaigning ahead of elections due on 8 January.

Benazir Bhutto's coffin has now been taken from the hospital


It was the second suicide attack against her in recent months and came amid a wave of bombings targeting security and government officials.
Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister and a political rival, announced his Muslim League party would boycott the elections.
He called on President Musharraf to resign, saying free and fair elections were not possible under his rule.
The United Nations Security Council has begun emergency consultations on the killing.
Scene of grief
Ms Bhutto's remains have been removed from Rawalpindi General Hospital in a van. They are reportedly being taken to the city's airport.

Extremist groups have in their sights all those committed to democratic processes in Pakistan

David Miliband
UK foreign secretary

International reaction
In pictures: Fatal rally
Analysis: Blow to stability


The attack occurred close to an entrance gate of the city park where Ms Bhutto had been speaking.
Police confirmed reports Ms Bhutto had been shot in the neck and chest before the gunman blew himself up.
She died at 1816 (1316 GMT), said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of the PPP who was at hospital.
Some supporters at the hospital wept while others broke into anger, throwing stones at cars and breaking windows.
Protests erupted in other cities as news of the assassination spread with unconfirmed reports of several deaths in clashes between demonstrators and security forces:

• A number of cars were torched in Karachi, capital of the PPP's heartland province of Sindh, where shots were also reportedly fired
• Cars were reportedly set on fire in Hyderabad, also in Sindh Province
• Police in Peshawar, in the north-west, used batons and tear gas to break up a rally by protesters chanting anti-Musharraf slogans
• One man was killed in a "shoot-out" between police and protesters in Tando Allahyar, the mayor said
• Unrest was also reported in Quetta, Multan and Shikarpur

'Security lapse'
Mr Musharraf has announced three days of national mourning.

Protesters set vehicles on fire in the streets of Hyderabad


Mr Sharif said there had been a "serious lapse in security" by the government.
But an old friend of Ms Bhutto, Salman Tassir, told the BBC World Service he did not think criticism should be directed at the government.
"There have been suicide attacks on Gen Musharraf also," he told Newshour.
"I mean it is extremism and the fanatics who are to blame."
Earlier on Thursday, at least four people were killed ahead of an election rally Mr Sharif had been preparing to attend close to Rawalpindi.
Ms Bhutto's death has plunged the PPP into confusion and raises questions about whether January elections will go ahead as planned, the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says.

BENAZIR BHUTTO

Father led Pakistan before being executed in 1979
Spent five years in prison
Served as PM from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996
Sacked twice by president on corruption charges
Formed alliance with rival ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in 2006
Ended self-imposed exile by returning to Pakistan in October
Educated at Harvard and Oxford

Obituary: Benazir Bhutto
Life in pictures


The killing was condemned by India, the US, the UK and others.
US President George W Bush telephoned Mr Musharraf for what the White House would only describe as a "brief" conversation on the situation.
Ms Bhutto returned from self-imposed exile in October after years out of Pakistan where she had faced corruption charges.
Her return was the result of a power-sharing agreement with President Musharraf
He had granted an amnesty that covered the court cases she was facing.
But relations with Mr Musharraf soon broke down.
On the day of her arrival, she had led a motor cavalcade through the city of Karachi.
It was hit by a double suicide attack that left some 130 dead.
Rawalpindi, the nerve centre of Pakistan's military, is seen as one of the country's most secure cities.

It was only a matter of time before the darker forces... carried out this action

Helen Stynes
Swaffham

Have your say


Many analysts say attacks like those on Thursday show the creeping "Talebanisation" of Pakistan.
Radical Muslims calling for Islamic law, and fiercely opposed to the US, have become increasingly active in Pakistani politics in recent years, analysts say. THE ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

1. Benazir Bhutto had addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi's Liaqat Bagh Park
2. As her convoy was leaving the park via the rear gate onto Murree road, she was shot twice in the neck and chest
3. The gunman then blew himself up killing at least 16 people
4. Ms Bhutto was taken to Rawalpindi General Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 1816 local time.

 

[Sausy]

Wow. I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming. So now Musharraf has eliminated his biggest opponent. This is not good.

He and the milirary probably weren't behind it,but made little or no effort to see that her security detail was tightened so this would probably have been unsuccessful.They bear much of the responsibility even if they had nothing directly to do with it. Islamic extremists,whether al-Qaeda affiliated or purely national, have long wanted to off her,and have now succeeded....just ends the year on a sobering,dreadful note.Very depressing to wake up to this news today.

 

[rotary]

She was a corrupt leader that embezzled millions of dollars from the government and was going to be tried for corruption before her exile. I read she faced jail in Europe as lawsuits against her weren't going well in Switzerland, so she returned to Pakistan in order to avoid serving time.

Her death is not a win for democracy, but she was hardly a hero, as some outlets are portraying her. She wouldn't have been a good leader for Pakistan.

 

[Huskerboy]

CNN thinks al-Qaeda is to blame for Bhutto's assassination as well. Given the current level of terrorist activity in that country, and the likely possibility that bin Laden is hiding there, I think they might be right.

I'm not sure if Bhutto was the right answer for keeping Pakistan a democratic country, but who knows. As someone else has previously mentioned, I wouldn't be surprised if a civil war broke out before the end of the week - especially given all the protests and violence already taking place.

 

[Kulindahr]

I heard about it as I was thinking of breakfast, and felt sick. Yes, she was corrupt, but just by being female she was a symbol of progress in such a country. Her followers were a power faction distinct from the rest, from the militaristic government and the extremists.
I managed breakfast, but while I watched the continued coverage I had the same thought as many of you: civil war. It's something the extremists love, Muslims killing Muslims in the name of the All-Compassionate; it gives them a chance to pick up territory and control.
My hate level got high enough I thought the best thing that could be done would be to arm the whole populace and offer $1000 for each head of a terrorist or extremist. Then I decided that would be too kind for them -- they should be captured, marched naked all the way to Mecca, and beheaded in the market place as abusers of women and children.

 

[Homoaffectional]

Thanks for posting about this, Snaps (and glad to see you're a mod again)

I think I just passed out of the shock stage, and am somewhere in the disgust and revulsion stage.

I don't think I will ever go to Pakistan again.

 

[snapcat]

Has anyone else heard more of this email that Wolf Blitzer has that holds Musharif responsible?

 

[khushibagh]

Has anyone else heard more of this email that Wolf Blitzer has that holds Musharif responsible?

It was on McNeil Lehrer as well. It was an email she sent to her PR guy in Washington a couple of weeks ago.

 

[snapcat]

I don't think we can even begin to imagine what far-reaching effects this will have on the region. There are more people living in Pakistan than in Russia.

I think this could have far-reaching effects.

 

[Kulindahr]

That email puts things in a different light.

Maybe she wanted to get attacked, in hopes of prompting an uprising to bring Musharif down?

 

[opinterph]

I think this could have far-reaching effects.

I agree. This represents a sea change in the region and perhaps beyond.

[The Bhutto email] was on McNeil Lehrer as well. It was an email she sent to her PR guy in Washington a couple of weeks ago.

MARGARET WARNER: And, Mark Siegel, when -- just before she returned [to Pakistan], she sent a letter to Musharraf naming three people she said were a threat to her. And they were all people tied to the government.

MARK SIEGEL: Yes.

MARGARET WARNER: But she sent you a follow-up e-mail. And I would just like to read the first two lines to you and to our viewers: "Mark, nothing will, God willing, happen. Just wanted you to know that if it does, in addition to the names in my letter to Musharraf of October 16, I would hold Musharraf responsible."

Did -- did she really think that?

MARK SIEGEL: She did, and she had reason to believe that was the case. She had asked for security for October 18 and 19. It was denied to her.

The only protection she had on those days were from the PPP workers that surrounded her. She also asked that there be a thorough investigation. There was not. There was not.

MARK SIEGEL: And there still has not been.

And she continued to ask for security arrangements that were continually denied. She did believe that, ultimately, these things could not be happening if it wasn't for Musharraf directly.

MARGARET WARNER: And, yet, Husain Haqqani, she was also very, very aware, she had a vivid understanding of the sort of Islamic extremist or terrorist threat, did she not?

HUSAIN HAQQANI: She had a tremendous understanding of it long before others had it. [More …]

Just as a flicker of hope emerged to bring back elected civilian rule to Pakistan, the ideological warriors of neo-conservatism are up in arms to douse it. Having supported President Pervez Musharraf as the stalwart general in America's "war on terror", US neo-conservatives are panic-stricken at the prospect of his political demise. No sooner did he decide to relinquish his army post to become a civilian president last week, than fear of Pakistan's collapse and of loose nuclear weapons gripped Musharraf's backers in the United States. [More …]

Washington’s view of Pakistan changed with the events of September 11, 2001, subsequent military actions in Afghanistan, and the ensuing global War on Terrorism … Meanwhile, the army, a self-contained entity, has penetrated most areas of the society and continues to absorb a disproportionate share of the country’s scarce resources. [Link]

IPS News: The army controls everything from defence to businesses and there are said to be, within it, those who are supporting extremism and terrorism. How would you be able to handle and control the army?

Benazir Bhutto: Our first step is to separate the offices of army chief and the president. It is a negation of democracy that a serving army chief should also be the president of the country. The written undertaking given by Musharraf in the Supreme Court that he will doff uniform after his reelection and the nomination of the next army chief are steps in this direction. We would like the military sent back to the barracks. We are also aiming at restoration of the balance of power between the president and parliament.

The best way to handle and control the army is to make it work within the confines of the constitution and under the control of civil and political authority. I believe that with the restoration of the constitution and transition to democracy the army will be required to work within the confines of the constitution. That is how we plan to handle and control the military. [More …]

U.S. Department of State Profile: Islamic Republic of Pakistan​

 

[Kulindahr]

ABC just had a piece on this; Stephanopoulos and others said her party was expected to win the next election, and some observers had been expecting an attempt.

No one ventured a guess about the elections, after this.