Pakistan's Bhutto Assassinated

[Hanren]

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/as...rif/index.html

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has died after a suicide attack, according to media reports.
Geo TV quoted her husband saying the politician had died following a bullet wound in the neck.
The suicide attack left at least 14 dead and 40 injured, Tariq Azim Khan, the country's former information minister, told CNN in a telephone interview.






The attacker is said to have detonated a bomb as he tried to enter the rally where thousands of people gathered to hear Bhutto speak, police said.
Bhutto is said to have been leaving the rally when the attack occurred and was taken to a hospital in an unconcious state, the Geo TV report said.
Earlier, a spokesman for Bhutto told CNN she was safe and taken away from the scene.
Video from the scene of the blast broadcast from Geo TV showed wounded people being loaded into ambulances.
Up to 20 people are dead, the report said.
Earlier, four supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif died when members of another political party opened fire on them at a rally near the Islamabad airport Friday, local police said.

[VtEC]

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/as...rif/index.html

now she's just part of pakistans history.RIP.

[XTO]

MUMBAI -

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was shot dead Thursday at a political rally by an attacker who then set off a blast that left 20 others dead.

In a year of increasing violence in Pakistan, Bhutto returned home from exile in October to contest parliamentary elections. Analysts said the viability and legitimacy of the Jan. 8 elections have dimmed with her death.

Bhutto, 54, survived explosions at her homecoming rally in Karachi that claimed the lives of around 140 people, and there were several reports that she was on militants’ hit lists.

She appeared to be courting danger by insisting on holding public rallies, and on Thursday in Rawalpindi, her supporters' worst fears were realized.

Bhutto, who had just finished addressing a rally, was shot in the head and neck before a suicide bomber blew himself up near her vehicle, according to reports from the scene.

Bhutto, who was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan, was considered a leading contender to take office a third time in elections that President Pervez Musharraf had promised to hold in January.

Blame for the assassination was quickly cast on Musharraf’s government.

“Everyone is saying that this army has killed Benazir. There is going to be more bloodshed,” Asma Jehangir, chairperson of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, told news media. Spokespersons for Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party accused the army of not providing adequate security for her.

Earlier this year, Musharraf and Bhutto engaged in extended power-sharing talks that ultimately fell through when she returned to the country and decided to publicly throw in her lot with opposition leaders following Musharraf's decision to declare emergency rule and dissolve the judiciary.

Her death raised doubts on whether the elections will be held.

"The biggest hope for Pakistan was for free and fair elections to give the government some genuine legitimacy," said Gareth Price, head of the Asia department at the London-based think tank Chatham House. "This assassination will make it much harder to get that free and fair election."

An alliance between Musharraf and Bhutto was seen as appealing to the U.S., which has pumped billions of dollars in aid into Pakistan since Musharraf came to power.

That made her a leading target of extremists, said Jennifer Harbison, head of the Asia desk at the Control Risks Group in London.

"She was the most secular of the political leaders. She had allied herself very clearly with the West, she spent time outside Pakistan building contacts and connections and she has been pretty clearly favored by the U.S. as a successor to Musharraf. For all those reasons she came at the top of the list in terms of offending the extremists."

Musharraf's rule has appeared increasingly shaky in recent months, with his popularity slipping over disputes with the judiciary and his reluctance to hold polls and shed his uniform. Musharraf has also been the target of repeated assassination attempts by Muslim extremists.

Bhutto's assassination could fuel further violence and instability.

Her supporters turned violent when she was taken to a hospital in Rawalpindi, chanting slogans like “Killer Musharraf” and smashing vehicles in the area. Musharraf lives in Rawalpindi, a satellite city of the capital Islamabad that hosts the army headquarters.

If the elections proceed, whether Bhutto's Pakistan People’s Party will be able to capture a sympathy vote is debatable. "The party has in the past been much overshadowed by Benazir," said Price. "Now that she has gone, the question remains if anyone in the second tier of the party can step up to take her place."

Furthermore, Bhutto's popularity appeared to have been not as high as she anticipated before she returned to Pakistan, said Harbison. "It's unclear whether her 'martyrdom,' as her party is now portraying it, will strike a chord in popular consciousness," she said.

Bhutto’s assassination drew strong responses from across the world. In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: “Mrs. Bhutto was no ordinary political leader, but one who left a deep imprint on her time and age. Her contributions to a previous moment of hope in India Pakistan relations, and her intent to break India Pakistan relations out of the sterile patterns of the past, were exemplary. In her death, the subcontinent has lost an outstanding leader who worked for democracy and reconciliation in her country.”

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/1...xes=relstories