Bhutto Shot Dead

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071227/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_120&printer=1;_ylt=AoldqXL8BvVI66DhjRN5SSP9xg8F

Pakistan's Bhutto killed in attack

By SADAQAT JAN and ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writers
2 minutes ago



Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.

"The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred," Bhutto's lawyer Babar Awan said.

A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in neck and chest as she got into her vehicle to leave the rally in Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. A gunman then blew himself up.

"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.

Her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf.

Some smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears. One man with a flag of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party tied around his head was beating his chest.

At least 20 others were killed in the blast that took place as Bhutto left a political rally where she addressed thousands of supporters in her campaign for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile Oct. 18.

Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.

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

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — 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.

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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.

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

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was seriously injured and was undergoing surgery Thursday after she was wounded in a suicide attack that killed at least 20 other people, a party aide said.

Safdar Abbasi said Bhutto was hit in the bomb blast.

"BB is serious and she is in the operating theater," he told The Associated Press. Other top leaders of Bhutto's party were at the Rawalpindi General Hospital, crying.
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Last edited by Kaffir Nation on Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:05 am; edited 1 time in total

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Killed-Homicide Attack

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,318510,00.html

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Killed in Homicide Attack at Rally in Pakistan

Thursday , December 27, 2007



RAWALPINDI, Pakistan —

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a homicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.

The former prime minister died in Rawalpindi General Hospital, where she had been rushed to surgery after she was wounded in the attack.



Top party leaders were outside the hospital, crying.

A homicide bomber attacked the former prime minister's supporters as they were leaving a rally.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park in Rawalpindi, where the rally was held.

He counted about 20 bodies, including police, and could see many other wounded.

The road outside was stained with blood and people screamed for ambulances. Others gave water to the wounded lying in the street. The clothing of some of the victims was shredded and people put party flags over their bodies.

The bomb went off just minutes after Bhutto spoke to thousands of supporters, and she appeared to be the target of the attack. Farahtullah Babar, the spokesman for her party, said her vehicle was about 50 yards away from blast, which went off as she was leaving the rally venue.
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Bhutto Reportedly Killed in Suicide Attack

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122700122_pf.html

Bhutto Reportedly Killed in Suicide Attack


By Griff Witte and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, December 27, 2007; 8:35 AM



RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 27 -- Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was reportedly killed Thursday at a political rally, two months after she returned from eight years of exile, officials here said.

Bhutto was apparently shot at close range as she was leaving the rally in this garrison city south of Islamabad. Immediately after the shooting, a suicide bomber detonated explosives near her car, killing at least 15 other people.

Bhutto was rushed to a hospital with extensive wounds to her torso, her supporters said. Shortly after she arrived at the hospital, officials came out of the building and told her supporters that Bhutto was dead.

Also Thursday, a rooftop sniper opened fire on supporters of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at a different pre-election rally in Rawalpindi, leaving four dead and at least five injured.

Bhutto's death would be a devastating development, coming 12 days before Pakistanis are set to vote in national parliamentary elections that have been marked by enormous political turmoil. President Pervez Musharaff declared a state of emergency in November -- a move which he said was to combat terrorism, but which was widely perceived as an effort to stave off legal challenges to his authority. U.S. military officials said last week that the terrorist group al-Qaeda had begun to focus its efforts in Pakistan.

Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan in October, had been running for parliament and hoped to become prime minister if her party wins enough legislative seats. At her homecoming reception in the port city of Karachi, suicide bombing attacks killed 140 people. Her campaign events have drawn large crowds and stringent security checkpoints.

At a rally in Peshawar on Wednesday, police stopped a would-be bomber with explosives around his neck. Thursday's rally was relatively sparsely attended, apparently because people feared additional attempts at violence.

Information about the attack was sketchy, and in some cases reports were conflicting. One aide to Bhutto said the suicide bomber who struck Thursday was right next to Bhutto's car. The explosions seemed like a targeted assassination attempt, the aide said.

A different Bhutto spokesperson told Reuters news service that Bhutto was in the process of leaving the rally when the bomb went off.

Initial reports said Bhutto was not hurt. But local television stations soon quoted Bhutto's husband as saying she was critically injured and in surgery, CNN reported. A short time later, the crowd of supporters gathered at the hospital, and an outraged roar went up when an official emerged to say she had died.

Sharif, who returned in late November from his own exile, is barred from running from office Jan. 8. But his party is competing in the elections and has been attracting large numbers of supporters to its rallies.

At the Sharif rally, party spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said supporters were fired upon while waiting to welcome the former prime minister. He called the attack unprovoked, and said it was carried out by Musharraf supporters.

Musharraf's party is "panicked by the astounding reception Mr. Sharif is getting," Iqbal said. "They're trying to use violence as an excuse to postpone the elections."

Wilgoren reported from Washington.
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Benazir Bhutto 'killed in blast'

Benazir Bhutto 'killed in blast'

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack, a spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) says.
Other reports said Ms Bhutto had only been injured and taken to hospital.

Ms Bhutto had just addressed a rally of PPP supporters in the town of Rawalpindi when the rally was hit by a blast.

At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack.


Ms Bhutto has twice been the country's prime minister and was campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7161590.stm

Published: 2007/12/27 13:35:23 GMT

© BBC MMVII
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/27/world/printable3649047.shtml

Bhutto Killed In Deadly Suicide Blast

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 27, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(CBS/AP) Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto died Thursday from her injuries sustained in a suicide attack, a party aide said.

The bomb went off just minutes after Bhutto spoke to thousands of supporters and she appeared to be the target of the attack. Farahtullah Babar, the spokesman for her party, said her vehicle was about 50 yards away from blast which went off as she was leaving the rally venue.

A senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, confirmed that Bhutto had died.

Police official Saud Aziz said it was a suicide attack.

Party security adviser says Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, then gunman blew himself up.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital.

Her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president.

Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears. One man with a flag of Pakistan People's Party tied around his head was beating his chest.

Sen. Babar Awan, Bhutto's lawyer, said, "The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred."

At least 20 others were killed in the blast that took place as Bhutto left a political rally where she addressed thousands of supporters to canvas votes for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

An AP reporter at the scene saw body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park in Rawalpindi where the rally was held. He counted about 20 bodies, including police, and could see many other wounded.

The road outside was stained with blood and people screamed for ambulances. Others gave water to the wounded lying in the street. The clothing of some of the victims was shredded and people put party flags over their bodies.

On Thursday, hundreds of people were forced to pass through metal detectors and undergo body searches before entering a sprawling public park decorated with the red, black and green flags of Bhutto's party and massive portraits of her with local candidates running in Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital where Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army has its headquarters.

Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile on Oct. 18.

Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.

Earlier Thursday, pro-government supporters waged an afternoon gunbattle with backers of opposition party politician Nawaz Sharif at a political rally outside the capital, killing four people, police said.

The parliamentary election is scheduled for Jan. 8.

Sadiq ul-Farooq, a spokesman for Sharif's party, said the opposition leader was about 1.3 miles away when pro-government party supporters opened fire on people gathering for a rally at Karal Chowk, near the airport about 10 miles outside Islamabad.

"Nawaz Sharif and his procession are safe, but we have received reports that a few people were wounded and maybe a few suffered fatal injuries," ul-Farooq said. All the injured were from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N group.

Pakistan's private ARY news channel quoted Sharif as saying the government had deliberately not provided security to his backers.

Imtiaz Ranjha, a spokesman or the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, condemned the attack and accused Sharif's supporters of provoking the fight. The party called for those involved to be punished, he said.

Local police chief Mohammed Hussain confirmed that four people were killed and three were wounded in the fighting.

Zaman Shami, an official at the police control room, said police were trying to determine who initiated the attack.
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Analysis: Bhutto death deals blow to US

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071227/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pakistan&printer=1;_ylt=AhUbI8dAmoMFbeV0VQp5uvKWwvIE

Analysis: Bhutto death deals blow to US

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
16 minutes ago



The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has dealt a severe blow to U.S. efforts to restore stability and democracy in a turbulent, nuclear-armed Islamic nation that has been a critical ally in the war on terror.

While not entirely dependent on Bhutto, recent Bush administration policy on Pakistan had focused heavily on promoting reconciliation between the secular opposition leader who has been dogged by corruption allegations and Pakistan's increasingly unpopular president, Pervez Musharraf, ahead of parliamentary elections set for January.

In Washington and Islamabad, U.S. diplomats urged that Jan. 8 elections should not be postponed and strongly advised against a reimposition of emergency rule that Musharraf had lifted just weeks ago.

The United States has poured billions of dollars in financial assistance into Pakistan since Sept. 11, 2001, when Musharraf made a calculated decision to align his government with Washington in going after al-Qaida and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. That move is blamed for several unsuccessful assassination attempts on him.

But it was not immediately clear, however, what if any influence Washington might have or whether Bhutto's death would drive the United States into a deeper embrace of Musharraf, whom some believe offers the best chance for Pakistani stability despite his democratic shortcomings.

"This latest tragedy is likely to reinforce beliefs that Pakistan is a dangerous, messy place and potentially very unstable and fragile and that they need to cling to Musharraf even more than they did in the past," said Daniel Markey, who left the State Department this year and is now a senior fellow at the private Council on Foreign Relations.

"The weight of the administration is still convinced that Musharraf is a helpful rather than a harmful figure," he said.

Amid the political chaos and uncertainty roiling the country in the wake of Bhutto's slaying, U.S. officials scrambled Thursday to understand the implications for the massive aid and counter-terrorism programs that have been criticized by lawmakers, especially as al-Qaida and Taliban extremists appear resurgent along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Underscoring the concerns, a grim President Bush interrupted his vacation to personally condemn Bhutto's murder, demanding that those responsible be brought to justice and calling on Pakistanis to continue to press for democracy.

"We urge them to honor Benazir Bhutto's memory by continuing with the democratic process for which she so bravely gave her life," Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch, before speaking briefly to Musharraf by phone.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Bhutto's assassination would "no doubt test the will and patience of the people of Pakistan" but called on the Pakistani people in a statement "to work together to build a more moderate, peaceful, and democratic future."

Yet such calls could fall on deaf ears, experts said.

"The United States does not have a great deal of leverage where Pakistan is concerned," said Wendy Sherman, who served as counselor to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. "And at the end of the day, the decisions are going to be made by the Pakistani people and by the leadership of Pakistan and not by the United States."

Other analysts warned that Bhutto's assassination might further damage Musharraf, whose democratic credentials have been seriously tarnished by growing authoritarianism, and have lead to widespread unrest.

"Legitimacy for Musharraf will be deferred if not impossible," said Christine Fair, a South Asia expert at the RAND Corporation. "The U.S. likely does not have a plan for this contingency as Musharraf remains a critical ally and because Bhutto's participation was hoped to confer legitimacy to the upcoming January elections."

She also warned that the murder could embolden militants in Pakistan to seek out other high-profile targets.

Bhutto, who served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996, was mortally wounded Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile on Oct. 18 when her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker.

The attempt on her life added to U.S. concerns about the country that had already been heightened by the situation in Pakistan, largely ungoverned frontier provinces where a truce between Musharraf's government and tribal leaders is credited with helping extremists regroup and reorganize.

In addition, Musharraf's declaration of emergency this fall, along with a clampdown on opposition figures and judges, irritated the administration, which was criticized in Congress for lax oversight of the nearly $10 billion in U.S. that poured into the country since he became an indispensable counterterrorism ally after 9/11/.

Under heavy U.S. pressure, Musharraf resigned as army chief and earlier this month lifted emergency rule to prepare for the elections. Bhutto's return and ability to run for parliament had been a cornerstone of Bush's policy in Pakistan.

Congress last week imposed new restrictions on U.S. assistance to Pakistan, including tying $50 million in military aid to State Department assurances that the country is making "concerted efforts" to prevent terrorists from operating inside its borders.

Under the law, which provides a total of $300 million in aid to Pakistan and was signed by Bush on Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also must guarantee that Pakistan is implementing democratic reforms, including releasing political prisoners and restoring an independent judiciary. The law also prevents any of the funds from being used for cash transfer assistance to Pakistan, but that stipulation had already been adopted by the administration.

___

Editor's Note: Matthew Lee covers foreign affairs and diplomacy for The Associated Press.

___

Associated Press reporters Charles Babington, Desmond Butler and Eileen Sullivan in Washington and Ben Feller in Crawford, Texas contributed to this story.
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Benazir Bhutto
12/27/07

As I have watched today's unfolding events in Pakistan, I realized that the world had lost an amazing and beautiful person. I am not talking about external appearances, but rather what I saw in her heart.

I cannot recall at the moment, her prior stints as PM of Pakistan, but I know she was well loved by many of the people.

Kaffir Nation, Home sick, I and many of us can "see" the spirit of a person. We have been doing this for a long time now. This is a "gift" bestowed upon us by G-d alone with G-dly wisdom. We see their spirit. We can see the evil or the good within a person. Within the eyes of many muslims, we see only "darkness" and a "dead soul". (Case in point, check the eyes of Achmudinnerjacket.)

Bezazir was a muslim yes, but I saw a "hope" in her eyes. I did not see the evil that permeates most of the muslim world. We have seen this "look" in a few other muslim women, Nonie Darwish comes to mind.

This brings about another thought. We all think of G-d as sovereign, and keeping this thought in mind, G-d is leading us to that point in history when the "age of mankind" comes to an end. Evil will be destroyed, and the righteous among us will join Him in eternity. It may well be that Bhutto's death had a two-fold purpose. Bhutto becoming PM of Pakistan might have brought a peace and stabilitly to a region of the world that would have changed G-d's timetable. BUT, (and I think this is the case), her death will bring about the instability of the muslim world that will bring about a division in the different sects of Islam that will bring us to the brink.

So, in looking at it this way, Bhutto's death did bring us peace, but the way G-d wants it, not the way we think it should happen.

Still, I think the world lost a friend. She will be sorely missed, her smile will not light up a room anymore.

Please say prayers for her husband and children, they have lost a wife and a mother as no family should have to endure.

Alien.
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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Agreed!

This is what the peace of Islam promotes. The killing of a wife, mother and stateswoman. The murder of democracy and hope for a country keeping savage intentions. This same country that breeds terrorism in the hearts of the very young by promoting the likes of OBL every single day in the streets with loud speakers and CD's...

I don't see a future for Pakistan, I only see destruction.
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Ali Eteraz offers an easy fix

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/019360.php

Ali Eteraz at Pajamas Media suggests that if the U.S. would drop Musharraf and support an independent panel investigating the killing of Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistanis would wake up to the evils of political Islam and vote pro-American:

An independent panel will likely conclude that it was the terrorists that killed Ms. Bhutto and not any elements associated with Musharraf himself. By doing so, Musharraf will be able to clear the cloud of suspicion hanging over his head, and might, in the process, be able to use the international community to identify how much the pro-Taliban elements have infiltrated Pakistan’s government. By severing itself from Musharraf and calling for an objective international panel, the US might also be able to see the extent of Musharraf’s complicity with the Islamists, if any.

If the U.S. can create the conditions for such a public demonstration of the history and extent of jihadist killing and infiltration, it would arm the people of Pakistan with unerring proof about who is their real enemy. It would be a boost to their sense of survival. It would demonstrate that the US is looking out for them. They would be able to take these feelings to the polls.

Historically, Pakistanis have never voted for religious fanatics. Today the U.S. must use an international panel to remind them that the reason they have never voted Islamist is because Islamists do not care for Pakistani lives. This kind of gesture will give resolve to the people of Pakistan. When facing the kind of terrorism Pakistanis do every day, resolve is the most important thing.

So that's all it will take: if the U.S. abandons Musharraf and sponsors an independent investigation into Bhutto's death, the Pakistani jihad will melt away. The 46% who registered approval for bin Laden as recently as September will vanish, and the the 9% who said they had a favorable view of George W. Bush will skyrocket. The 74% who said they opposed "U.S. military action against al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan" will begin, presumably, to change their minds.

I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, Andrew McCarthy was far closer to the mark when he wrote yesterday:

The real Pakistan is a breeding ground of Islamic holy war where, for about half the population, the only thing more intolerable than Western democracy is the prospect of a faux democracy led by a woman — indeed, a product of feudal Pakistani privilege and secular Western breeding whose father, President Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, had been branded as an enemy of Islam by influential Muslim clerics in the early 1970s.

The real Pakistan is a place where the intelligence services are salted with Islamic fundamentalists: jihadist sympathizers who, during the 1980s, steered hundreds of millions in U.S. aid for the anti-Soviet mujahideen to the most anti-Western Afghan fighters — warlords like Gilbuddin Hekmatyar whose Arab allies included bin Laden and Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the stalwarts of today’s global jihad against America.

The real Pakistan is a place where the military, ineffective and half-hearted though it is in combating Islamic terror, is the thin line between today’s boiling pot and what tomorrow is more likely to be a jihadist nuclear power than a Western-style democracy.

Search the archives here and you will find abundant confirmation of all these points. And the most obvious reason why the Pakistani jihad will not evanesce if Musharraf goes away is that it existed before him, and has been gaining in strength and influence ever since the founding of Pakistan -- and particularly around the time Benazir Bhutto's father was murdered by the Zia al-Haq regime, which introduced numerous Sharia provisions into Pakistani law.
_________________
"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.