P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.newsmax.com/international/Pakistan_Fingers_al-Qaida/2007/12/28/60276.html
Pakistan Fingers al-Qaida in Bhutto Slaying
Friday, December 28, 2007
Hundreds of thousands of mourners thronged the mausoleum of Pakistan's most
famous political dynasty in an outpouring of emotion for Benazir Bhutto. The
government said al-Qaida and the Taliban were responsible for her death,
claiming it intercepted an al-Qaida leader's message of congratulation for
the assassination.
But many of Bhutto's furious supporters blamed President Pervez Musharraf's
government for the shooting and bombing attack on the former prime minister,
Musharraf's most powerful opponent. They rampaged through several cities in
violence that left at least 23 dead less than two weeks before crucial
parliamentary elections.
"We have the evidence that al-Qaida and Taliban were behind the suicide
attack on Benazir Bhutto," Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said.
Thursday's attack on Bhutto plunged Pakistan into turmoil and badly damaged
plans to restore democracy in this nuclear-armed nation, a key U.S. ally in
the war on terror.
Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said that on Friday, the
government recorded an "intelligence intercept" in which militant leader
Baitullah Mehsud "congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly
act."
Cheema described Mehsud as an "al-Qaida leader" who was also behind the
Karachi bomb blast in October against Bhutto that killed more than 140
people. He also announced the formation of two inquiries into Bhutto's
death, one to be carried out by a high court judge and another by security
forces.
Bhutto was killed Thursday when a suicide attacker shot at her and then blew
himself up as she left a rally in Rawalpindi. Authorities initially said she
died from bullet wounds, and a surgeon who treated her said she died from
the impact of shrapnel on her skull.
But Cheema said she was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle,
and the shock waves from the blast smashed her head into a lever attached to
the sunroof, fracturing her skull, he said.
Cheema said Pakistani security forces would hunt down those responsible for
her death: "They will definitely be brought to justice."
He said other senior politicians were also under threat of militant attack,
including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who promised to boycott
parliamentary elections on Jan. 8 in response to Bhutto's assassination.
Cheema showed a videotape of the attack, with Bhutto waving, smiling and
chatting with supporters from the sunroof as her car sat unmoving on the
street outside the rally. Three gunshots rang out, the camera appeared to
fall, and the tape ended.
On Friday, Bhutto's supporters ransacked banks, waged shootouts with police
and burned trains and stations in a spasm of violence less than two weeks
before parliamentary elections.
Soldiers patrolled the streets of the southern cities of Hyderabad and
Karachi, witnesses said. At least 23 people were killed in unrest, said
Ghulam Mohammed Mohtaram, home secretary for Sindh province.
Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro said the government had no immediate
plans to postpone Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, despite the growing chaos
and a top opposition leader's decision to boycott the poll.
"Right now the elections stand where they were," he told a news conference.
"We will consult all the political parties to take any decision about it."
Mourners traveled to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh by tractor, bus, car and jeep. Many
crammed inside the mausoleum and threw petals on the coffin. Women beat
their heads and chests in grief.
"As long as the moon and sun are alive, so is the name of Bhutto," they
chanted.
An Islamic cleric led mourners in prayers and Bhutto's son, Bilawal, and her
husband, Asif Ali Zardari, helped lower the coffin beside the grave of her
father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also a popular former prime minister who met a
violent death. Thousands of supporters then filed in to shovel dirt onto the
grave.
Some mourners angrily blamed Musharraf, the former army chief, for Bhutto's
death, shouting "General, killer!" "Army, killer."
The death of the 54-year-old Bhutto left her party without a clear
successor. Her husband, who was freed in December 2004 after eight years in
detention on graft charges, is one contender, although he lacks the cachet
of a blood relative.
"I don't know what will happen to the country now," said Nazakat Soomro, 32.
A mob in Karachi looted at least three banks and set them on fire, and
engaged in a shootout with police that left three officers wounded, police
said.
About 7,000 people in the central city of Multan ransacked seven banks and a
gas station and threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas. In the
capital, Islamabad, about 100 protesters burned tires in a commercial
district.
Paramilitary rangers were given the authority to use live fire against
rioters in southern Pakistan, said Maj. Asad Ali, the rangers' spokesman.
"We have orders to shoot on sight," he said.
Earlier, mobs burned 10 railway stations and several trains across Bhutto's
Sindh province, forcing the suspension of all train service between the city
of Karachi and the eastern Punjab province, said Mir Mohammed Khaskheli, a
senior railroad official.
The rioters uprooted one section of the track leading to India, he said.
About 4,000 Bhutto supporters rallied in the northwestern city of Peshawar
and several hundred ransacked the empty office of the main pro-Musharraf
party, burning furniture and stationery.
Protesters shouted "Musharraf dog" and "Bhutto was alive yesterday, Bhutto
is alive today." Dozens of police in riot gear followed the protesters but
did not intervene.
In other violence, a roadside bomb killed a local leader from the ruling
party and six of his associates as they drove through Swat in northwestern
Pakistan, where troops have been fighting followers of a pro-Taliban cleric
in recent months, said Mohib Ullah, a local police official.
Many cities were nearly deserted as businesses closed and public
transportation came to a halt at the start of three days of national
mourning for Bhutto.
"The repercussions of her murder will continue to unfold for months, even
years," read a mournful editorial in the Dawn newspaper. "What is clear is
that Pakistan's political landscape will never be the same, having lost one
of its finest daughters."
Dr. Mussadiq Khan, a surgeon who treated Bhutto, said Friday that she died
from shrapnel that hit her on the right side of the skull. Bhutto had no
heartbeat or pulse when she arrived at the hospital and doctors failed to
resuscitate her, he said.
Soomro, the prime minister, told the Cabinet on Friday that Bhutto's husband
did not allow an autopsy, according to a government statement.
After the killing, Sharif, another former premier and leader of a rival
opposition party, announced his party would boycott the elections.
"I am worried about the country, about the people. Nobody is secure, there
is total insecurity," Sharif said.
Opposition politician and former cricket star Imran Khan blamed Musharraf
for Bhutto's death, saying he did not give her proper security. Speaking to
reporters in Mumbai, India, where he was on a private visit, he called on
the president to resign and for an independent judicial probe into her
death.
Bhutto, whose party has long been popular among Pakistan's legions of poor,
served two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996. Both elected
governments were toppled amid accusations of corruption and mismanagement,
but she was respected in the West for her liberal outlook and determination
to combat Islamic extremism.
Pakistan Fingers al-Qaida in Bhutto Slaying
Friday, December 28, 2007
Hundreds of thousands of mourners thronged the mausoleum of Pakistan's most
famous political dynasty in an outpouring of emotion for Benazir Bhutto. The
government said al-Qaida and the Taliban were responsible for her death,
claiming it intercepted an al-Qaida leader's message of congratulation for
the assassination.
But many of Bhutto's furious supporters blamed President Pervez Musharraf's
government for the shooting and bombing attack on the former prime minister,
Musharraf's most powerful opponent. They rampaged through several cities in
violence that left at least 23 dead less than two weeks before crucial
parliamentary elections.
"We have the evidence that al-Qaida and Taliban were behind the suicide
attack on Benazir Bhutto," Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said.
Thursday's attack on Bhutto plunged Pakistan into turmoil and badly damaged
plans to restore democracy in this nuclear-armed nation, a key U.S. ally in
the war on terror.
Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said that on Friday, the
government recorded an "intelligence intercept" in which militant leader
Baitullah Mehsud "congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly
act."
Cheema described Mehsud as an "al-Qaida leader" who was also behind the
Karachi bomb blast in October against Bhutto that killed more than 140
people. He also announced the formation of two inquiries into Bhutto's
death, one to be carried out by a high court judge and another by security
forces.
Bhutto was killed Thursday when a suicide attacker shot at her and then blew
himself up as she left a rally in Rawalpindi. Authorities initially said she
died from bullet wounds, and a surgeon who treated her said she died from
the impact of shrapnel on her skull.
But Cheema said she was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle,
and the shock waves from the blast smashed her head into a lever attached to
the sunroof, fracturing her skull, he said.
Cheema said Pakistani security forces would hunt down those responsible for
her death: "They will definitely be brought to justice."
He said other senior politicians were also under threat of militant attack,
including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who promised to boycott
parliamentary elections on Jan. 8 in response to Bhutto's assassination.
Cheema showed a videotape of the attack, with Bhutto waving, smiling and
chatting with supporters from the sunroof as her car sat unmoving on the
street outside the rally. Three gunshots rang out, the camera appeared to
fall, and the tape ended.
On Friday, Bhutto's supporters ransacked banks, waged shootouts with police
and burned trains and stations in a spasm of violence less than two weeks
before parliamentary elections.
Soldiers patrolled the streets of the southern cities of Hyderabad and
Karachi, witnesses said. At least 23 people were killed in unrest, said
Ghulam Mohammed Mohtaram, home secretary for Sindh province.
Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro said the government had no immediate
plans to postpone Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, despite the growing chaos
and a top opposition leader's decision to boycott the poll.
"Right now the elections stand where they were," he told a news conference.
"We will consult all the political parties to take any decision about it."
Mourners traveled to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh by tractor, bus, car and jeep. Many
crammed inside the mausoleum and threw petals on the coffin. Women beat
their heads and chests in grief.
"As long as the moon and sun are alive, so is the name of Bhutto," they
chanted.
An Islamic cleric led mourners in prayers and Bhutto's son, Bilawal, and her
husband, Asif Ali Zardari, helped lower the coffin beside the grave of her
father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also a popular former prime minister who met a
violent death. Thousands of supporters then filed in to shovel dirt onto the
grave.
Some mourners angrily blamed Musharraf, the former army chief, for Bhutto's
death, shouting "General, killer!" "Army, killer."
The death of the 54-year-old Bhutto left her party without a clear
successor. Her husband, who was freed in December 2004 after eight years in
detention on graft charges, is one contender, although he lacks the cachet
of a blood relative.
"I don't know what will happen to the country now," said Nazakat Soomro, 32.
A mob in Karachi looted at least three banks and set them on fire, and
engaged in a shootout with police that left three officers wounded, police
said.
About 7,000 people in the central city of Multan ransacked seven banks and a
gas station and threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas. In the
capital, Islamabad, about 100 protesters burned tires in a commercial
district.
Paramilitary rangers were given the authority to use live fire against
rioters in southern Pakistan, said Maj. Asad Ali, the rangers' spokesman.
"We have orders to shoot on sight," he said.
Earlier, mobs burned 10 railway stations and several trains across Bhutto's
Sindh province, forcing the suspension of all train service between the city
of Karachi and the eastern Punjab province, said Mir Mohammed Khaskheli, a
senior railroad official.
The rioters uprooted one section of the track leading to India, he said.
About 4,000 Bhutto supporters rallied in the northwestern city of Peshawar
and several hundred ransacked the empty office of the main pro-Musharraf
party, burning furniture and stationery.
Protesters shouted "Musharraf dog" and "Bhutto was alive yesterday, Bhutto
is alive today." Dozens of police in riot gear followed the protesters but
did not intervene.
In other violence, a roadside bomb killed a local leader from the ruling
party and six of his associates as they drove through Swat in northwestern
Pakistan, where troops have been fighting followers of a pro-Taliban cleric
in recent months, said Mohib Ullah, a local police official.
Many cities were nearly deserted as businesses closed and public
transportation came to a halt at the start of three days of national
mourning for Bhutto.
"The repercussions of her murder will continue to unfold for months, even
years," read a mournful editorial in the Dawn newspaper. "What is clear is
that Pakistan's political landscape will never be the same, having lost one
of its finest daughters."
Dr. Mussadiq Khan, a surgeon who treated Bhutto, said Friday that she died
from shrapnel that hit her on the right side of the skull. Bhutto had no
heartbeat or pulse when she arrived at the hospital and doctors failed to
resuscitate her, he said.
Soomro, the prime minister, told the Cabinet on Friday that Bhutto's husband
did not allow an autopsy, according to a government statement.
After the killing, Sharif, another former premier and leader of a rival
opposition party, announced his party would boycott the elections.
"I am worried about the country, about the people. Nobody is secure, there
is total insecurity," Sharif said.
Opposition politician and former cricket star Imran Khan blamed Musharraf
for Bhutto's death, saying he did not give her proper security. Speaking to
reporters in Mumbai, India, where he was on a private visit, he called on
the president to resign and for an independent judicial probe into her
death.
Bhutto, whose party has long been popular among Pakistan's legions of poor,
served two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996. Both elected
governments were toppled amid accusations of corruption and mismanagement,
but she was respected in the West for her liberal outlook and determination
to combat Islamic extremism.
