Assassination plunges Pakistan into chaos

Dec 27 2007 icWales

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated as she left a public rally today throwing the country into turmoil.

Ms Bhutto, twice the country’s prime minister, was shot in the neck and body by a suicide bomber who then blew themselves up as she was driven from the rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

A senior military official confirmed that Ms Bhutto had died in the explosion that also killed at least another 20 people.

She had just addressed thousands of people in a public park as part of her campaign for the country’s parliamentary elections which are due on January 8.

Her death threw the election campaign into chaos and created fears of mass protests and an eruption of violence across the country.

Its confirmation came from party member Wasif Ali Khan who was at Rawalpindi’s General Hospital.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," he said. Her lawyer added: Her lawyer said, "The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred."

Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and opposition leader, arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Ms Bhutto’s body.

Her security adviser Rehman Malik said she was shot in the neck and chest.

"We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers (devices to foil remote-control detonation of bombs), but they paid no heed to our requests," he said.

As her death was made public 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.

Ms Bhutto ,54, served twice as Pakistan’s prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile last October after agreeing an amnesty deal with President Musharraf over corruption charges.

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 today hundreds of riot police had manned security checkpoints to guard Liaqat Bagh park where Ms Bhutto was to speak in what would be her first public meeting in Rawalpindi since she came back to the country.

Ms Bhutto had originally planned a rally in the city in November, but President Musharraf forced her to cancel it, citing security fears.

In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi, which is near to the capital Islamabad where Mr Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army has its headquarters.

America was first to react internationally to the killing with a State Department spokesman condemning it and warning: "It demonstrates that there are still those in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance democracy."

The US has for months been encouraging President Musharraf to reach some kind of political accommodation with the opposition, particularly Ms Bhutto who was seen as having a wide base of support.

Her party had been widely expected to do well in parliamentary elections set for next month.

The West’s relations with Pakistan have been strained since Mr Musharraf declared emergency rule last November.

Britain and America were among those repeatedly urging a return to normal government, and Mr Musharraf ultimately gave up his position as head of the army.

Ms Bhutto’s death will leave a void at the top of her Pakistan People’s Party, the largest political group in the country.

As news of her death spread, supporters at the hospital in Rawalpindi smashed glass doors and stoned cars. Many chanted slogans against Mr Musharraf, accusing him of complicity in her killing.

Angry supporters also took to the streets in the north-western city of Peshawar as well other areas, chanting slogans against Mr Musharraf. In Rawalpindi, the site of the attack, Ms Bhutto’s supporters burned election posters from the ruling party and attacked police, who fled.

In Karachi, shop owners quickly closed their businesses as supporters from Bhutto’s party burned tires on the roads.

Mr Sharif later emerged from the hospital and addressed the crowd.

"Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you to take the revenge for her death," he said. "Don’t feel alone. I am with you. We will take the revenge on the rulers."

Ms Bhutto was killed just a few miles from the scene of her father’s violent death 28 years earlier. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former prime minister and the founder of the party that his daughter would later lead, was executed by hanging in 1979 in Rawalpindi on charges of conspiracy to murder that supporters said were politically motivated by the then-military regime.

His killing led to violent protests across the country.