I thought she was a marked woman before returning to Pakistan.

By SADAQAT JAN and ZARAR KHAN
Associated Press Writers

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

Bhutto's supporters erupted in anger and grief after her death, attacking police and burning tires and election campaign posters in several cities. At the hospital where she died, some smashed glass and wailed, chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf.

The death of the charismatic 54-year-old former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

Musharraf condemned the attack and urged calm, according to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. He also convened an emergency meeting with his senior staff, where they were expected to discuss whether to postpone the elections, an official at the Interior Ministry said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

No one claimed responsibility for the killing but suspicion was almost certain to fall on Islamic militants.

The attacker struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed thousands of supporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, 8 miles south of Islamabad. She was shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up, said Rehman Malik, Bhutto's security adviser.

Sardar Qamar Hayyat, a leader from Bhutto's party, said he was standing about 10 yard away from Benazir Bhutto's vehicle at the time of the attack.

"She was inside the vehicle and was coming out from the gate after addressing the rally when some of the youths started chanting slogans in her favor. Then I saw a smiling Bhutto emerging from the vehicle's roof and responding to their slogans," he said.

"Then I saw a thin, young man jumping toward her vehicle from the back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speeding vehicle going away," he added.

Bhutto was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergency surgery. She died about an hour after the attack.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071227/ap_ ... NUw9Cs0NUE

She knew it. She was interviewed here before returning, she was aware of the risks but couldn't turn her back on her country when it was in such turmoil.

I am horrified by this. She was a beautiful, educated woman who worked hard for the rights of her people all her life, as did her father before her. Strangely she died just a few hundred yards from the site of her father's execution.

This is a major setback to our efforts in Pakistan.

Bhutto death deals blow to US

By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - 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.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071227/ap_ ... hdi9as0NUE

There are also unsubstantiated accusations flying around that the US/UK engineered her demise...

I recall that Pakistan was persona non grata and faced economic sanctions and so on until the Iraq war. They stand to lose by this as much as the US.

Well, all hell would break loose if we, the US or the UK were even remotely involved. The US actually had a lot to lose by her being killed.

She made herself an easy target. IMO. If anything the Pakistan army might have tried a bit harder to protect her. I'm being to believe Musharraf is a bs artist and he is willing to retain power at any cost, including standing back and let the terrorist do the dirty work. That's my theory.

From My blog:




Sad that the death of Benazir Bhutto had to replace all the crap in the news like tigers attack, car crash, plane crashes, yada, yada. This could be disastrous for the country of Pakistan. Ms Bhutto was shot twice and then her attacker blew his ass up, killing many with him.

Pakistan is basically, 4 countries within the borders of one. It is slowly falling apart. Musharaff has a couple of options....my choice and prediction is he may declare a state of emergency--again. This will be an attempt to quieten down his opposition.


LINK

Huckabee's take on the assassination.


(CNN) – Mike Huckabee – whose foreign policy credentials have been under a microscope since he admitted to journalists that he was unaware of a major report on Iran’s nuclear weapons program – appeared to make another minor gaffe Thursday when he seemed to suggest incorrectly that Pakistan was currently under martial law.


LINK

What seems like a minor misstatement will get blown all out of proportion at this stage of the game. Huck really should be getting briefed on foreign events though. Perhaps it is a weakness. If it is, he's toast.

Tumbleweed wrote:Well, all hell would break loose if we, the US or the UK were even remotely involved. The US actually had a lot to lose by her being killed.

She made herself an easy target. IMO. If anything the Pakistan army might have tried a bit harder to protect her. I'm being to believe Musharraf is a bs artist and he is willing to retain power at any cost, including standing back and let the terrorist do the dirty work. That's my theory.

She was definitely aware of the risks, but don't accept she made herself an easy target voluntarily. Musharraf could have done much more in her opinion:

"Nothing will, God willing happen," she wrote to Mark Siegel, her U.S. spokesman, lobbyist and friend.

"Just wanted u to know if it does in addition to the names in my letter to Musharaf of Oct 16nth, I wld hold Musharaf responsible. I have been made to feel insecure by his minions and there is no way what is happening in terms of stopping me from taking private cars or using tinted windows or giving jammers or four police mobiles to cover all sides cld happen without him."

Bhutto was seeking to become prime minister for a third time when she was assassinated; her death comes exactly two weeks before Pakistan's January 8 parliamentary elections. Bhutto said she'd blame Musharraf if killed - CNN.com

The names in her Oct 16th letter were names of three people who were trying to kill her.

Pakistan should be screwed up for months......




The assassination dealt a blow to an even closer U.S. ally, President Pervez Musharraf, who now may lose the electoral blessing he needs to restore his sagging credibility and legitimacy. Worse, many Pakistanis hold the president and those around him responsible for the assassination, if only because they failed to prevent it.

The setback comes at an especially bad time for the United States, with Islamic militants resurgent in neighboring Afghanistan and focusing more intently on attacking Pakistan. The United States has been spending about $1 billion a year in Pakistan.

"A bad day for Pakistan, a bad day for the United States," said Daniel Markey of the Council on Foreign Relations, who was a senior State Department official until earlier this year. "We're going to be paying a price for it for a while."

U.S. officials said their foremost concern was the possibility of civil upheaval.

LINK

AQ did it! Or did they?


AL-QAEDA linked Pakistani militant Baitullah Mehsud was not involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, his spokesman said.

"He had no involvement in this attack," Mehsud's spokesman Maulvi Omar said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"This is a conspiracy of the Government, army and intelligence agencies," he said.

"I strongly deny it. Tribal people have their own customs. We don't strike women."

The Pakistan Government has claimed that Mehsud was responsible for Benazir Bhutto's killing as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday.


LINK

How did Bhutto become Washington's "man" in Pakistan?


BENAZIR BHUTTO always understood Washington more than Washington understood her.

Ms. Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and two-time prime minister, who was assassinated in Rawalpindi on Thursday as she campaigned for the office a third time, had a more extensive network of powerful friends in the capital’s political and media elite than almost any other foreign leader. Over the years, she scrupulously cultivated those friends, many from her days at Harvard and Oxford. She was rewarded when her connections — at the White House, in Congress and within the foreign policy establishment — helped propel her into power in Pakistan.


LINK

Can Bhutto Lead From The Grave?


NAUDERO, Pakistan — Benazir Bhutto left a last will and testament that maps out the future for her political party and who should lead it in her absence, her husband Asif Zardari disclosed on Saturday.

The document will be presented to her Pakistan People's Party on Sunday. It's expected to include her preference for who should lead the party in her absence. Zardari himself would be a highly controversial contender. Their son Bilawal would win a huge amount of goodwill, but is still a teenager, and Zardari appeared to rule him out on Saturday.


LINK

It's convient for a lot of people to pin it on Al-Qaeda, but they really don't know yet. After they get through the finger pointing process, they might actually find out who was behind it. They can't even agree to what killed her yet.

I just viewed the latest video of her being killed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 8#22443738

It looked like she slumped over before the bomb went off. I got the impression she might have been shot.