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27th December, 2007
Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto assassinated
Watch live BBC coverage here
[Picture of Ms Bhutto at the rally this morning.]
News footage video here:
News item (19:53 GMT): “The UN Security Council condemns the attack. The council condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations … terrorism … constitutes the most serious thereat to the community.”
It has now been confirmed that Benazir Bhutto, the popular and charismatic Pakistan opposition leader, was killed in today’s terror attack. She was gunned down with shots to her chest and neck, as well as pellets to the head from the suicide bombing. It seems she may have died from a heart attack resulting from the shock of the attack. That is yet to be confirmed. But in the end, she is dead, and Pakistan and the democratic world as a whole have lost a great female leader.
News video showing Ms Bhutto just prior to the attack – Turkish language
Ms Bhutto, the former two-times prime minister, whose party was hopeful that she would be elected as prime minister again in the elections lined up for January, was 54 years old.
The killer blew himself up, killing dozens of people, including many bodyguards and police.
Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister, and Ms Bhutto’s political rival says that her murder is “very tragic”.
There was something inevitable about this, given that she had escaped an October attempt on her life. Ms Bhutto was fully aware of the possibility of assassination. That doesn’t make it easier to comprehend or any less tragic.
[Pictures from the scene today]
Despair in the eyes of the man below, surrounded by injured people and dead bodies
Earlier report: As it broke at lunch time, GMT today:
BREAKING NEWS – Bhutto “badly injured”, says husband.
Benazir Bhutto may have been injured, or even killed, in today’s “suspected suicide attack” in Rawalpindi.
“A suspected suicide attack at a rally of Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has left at least 15 people dead, police say.
A PPP spokesman has told the BBC that Ms Bhutto was injured. It is not clear how badly. She had just addressed the rally in the town of Rawalpindi.”
Her husband says that she was “badly injured”.
But the latest BBC reports say she “has been martyred”.
MY THOUGHTS ON BHUTTO MURDER
Blame is already being attached to the security around Ms Bhutto, and thus to President Musharraf, who had already warned her of the dangers. It is highly likely that the January 8th election will be postponed or even cancelled. Many will ask – who gains from this?
WILL MARTIAL LAW FOLLOW?
Her cousin, Assim Bhutto, says that when she decided to return to Pakistan from self-imposed exile in London in October, she had been informed that “the army” might try to kill her. He believes that elements in Punjab, who are part of “Musharraf’s group”, could be behind her murder. He blames Musharraf directly saying that although the politicians and legal people were arrested in the recent clamp-down, jihadist and Islamist extremists were left to roam the streets. He believed this was deliberate.
“One by one, the entire family has been killed”, said Assim Bhutto.And a US spokesman has stated that all the cards are now in the hands of Musharraf. The west are powerless to intervene.
And, according to sources, progress was being made in bringing sides together.
As I have pointed out here before, in reference to Tony Blair’s Middle East peace quest, the nearer peace-makers get to achieving success, the more tenuous their hold on survival.
Some might say – “So what? Thousands of others have also died at the hands of radical terrorists.” But the death of Ms Bhutto could be the precursor to national and regional unrest which the deaths of you or me would not.
IMPLICATIONS FOR OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS
For quite some time I have expressed concerns about the security of international leaders in these times of great upheaval and suicide terror. I referred to it here months ago when Tony Blair first took up his Middle East post. The Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali, tonight also raises this as an issue. The implications would be unimaginable, if for example, the Palestinian or Israeli leaders fell victim to this kind of attack.
If it were Tony Blair or even George Bush, would the present British prime minister again say, “we musn’t let democracy die”?
Would that seem platitudinous?
DANGEROUS, dangerous times.
//////////
BUSH BEING PROTECTED BY “TERRORISTS”
JERUSALEM – Members of the most active West Bank terror organization are set to participate in security forces being deployed to protect President Bush during his visit to the Palestinian territories next month, WND has learned.
According to Israeli security officials coordinating deployments of forces with the PA for Bush’s Ramallah visit, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s declared military wing, have been called upon by the PA to participate in the protection of Bush’s convoy and in securing the parameter during the meeting with Abbas.
The Brigades is listed as a terror organization by the U.S. State Department. The group took credit along with the Islamic Jihad terror organization for every suicide bombing in Israel between 2005 and 2006, and is responsible for thousands of shootings and rocket firings. Statistically, the Al Aqsa Brigades perpetuated more terrorism from the West Bank than Hamas, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.
MY THOUGHTS ON BUSH’S SECURITY:
I’m not quite sure why President Bush needs to be protected by such organisations. It sounds like holding out the hand of friendship a little TOO far. It takes only a few seconds to end the life of any human being, no matter what their position in life.
Above all we should recognise this and thank God, or the powers that be, for the brave politicians who take their lives in their hands for the sake of peace.
With Mr Bush about to visit the Palestinian territories, is he going to be safe? If this dreadful news is right and Ms Bhutto has been killed, what are we to make of the security of other world leaders?
Bush, too, should not be a martyr to the cause. I have long been concerned about the security of the world’s political leaders, as should we all be, whether or not we think the democratic leaders are actually the bad guys.
And with today’s dreadful news, since Pakistan is a nuclear power, nothing is more likely to push someone to pull the nuclear trigger than the assassination of a western democratic leader.
…. more to come …
I’m never one for these conspiracy theorists; for example, I don’t believe that Bush blew up the Twin Towers, nor that some part of the British establishment set up 7/7, nor that Prince Philip killed Princess Diana. And yet, and yet … and call me a white colonialist if you must, I DO accept that there are many and disparate forces at work in the mess that is the Near, Middle and Far East. The question raised by an Indian newspaper is perhaps bound up in the India/Pakistan rivalry, but still should be settled, for all sorts of reasons.
To quell any of these doubts on the death of Bhutto, perhaps her family should allow an immediate exhumation for an independent autopsy. In the meantime, the conspiracy theorists amongst us are always going to ask the questions – ‘who, how and why, and with whose help or knowledge?’
The India Daily says:
Benazir Bhutto killed by Pakistani secret laser weapon system as well as bullets – Indian politicians must be careful
The conspiracy theorists have dug in further. Benazir Bhutto was attacked Pakistani militia from various directions. But the one that guaranteed her assassination is the new arsenal that Pakistani ISI obtained for attacking Indian installations secretly from Europe. It is a laser based pin pointed weapon system that can pierce through the skull and the bones and cause death instantaneously.
The laser beam was direct and pin pointed. Besides international think tanks, a section of her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) claimed she was targeted with a section of her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) claiming she was targeted with sophisticated ‘laser beam technology.’
The weapon systems that the ISI was ready to handover to the Jihadists to kill Indians and Indian politicians were actually first test fired on Benazir Bhutto.
When Bhutto was admitted to Rawalpindi General Hospital shortly after the fatal attack on her on December 27, doctor Musaddiq Khan, who treated her, told a PPP leader that he had seen “such a case for the first time in his life”, sources said.
What really happened is that as Bhutto got ready to reveal to the world iron clad evidence on how Musharraf was rigging the election, ISI decided to make sure the assassination does not leave any chance for Bhutto to survive.
The skull fracture is impossible from Sunroof. Sniper blasts are written off from video shoots. The only alternative is obviously the laser beam. That was the reason why Musharraf’s men and the ISI agents shielded Bhutto’s body from complete autopsy. They did not like to reveal their new weapon systems that they plan to use against other world leaders.
The bigger question is why is Osama Bin Laded still alive? Who gave Musharraf the secret Laser based weapon system that can be used to assassinate world personalities? Is Musharraf aligned with people that have access to these technologies?
Tags: Benazir Bhutto injured or dead, blair, bush, Middle East - Countries/Issues, Pakistan, peace, Rawalpindi, suicide attack
December 30, 2007 at 9:54 am |
Hi
It would seem like the headaches I was talking about has just got bigger with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, her death leaving even more chaos in a country already full of tension, uncertainty on the political scene, Tabliban and AQ terrorists roaming around.
When the news broke about her murder I wasn’t at all surprised to be honest, she put herself at immense risk and with all the current tensions it was only going to be a matter of when and not if, either her or Musharraf was going to be murdered. I guess you can try and take all the precautions possible, not sure they did in this case perhaps they should have done more, but at the end of the day if someone is determined to kill you they will find a way.
There has been a lot in the press about how we shouldn’t have relied on Musharraf so much and done things differently, even that we shouldn’t encouraged Bhutto to come back from exile, thing is we did what we could at the time and thought was right at the time , who knows if we had done anything different the consequences would have been any different.
I only hope though that someone, prefrerably the United States is keeping a close watch on Pakistan’s WMD and the terrorists that swim around on Pakistan’s soil, that is my main concern because if in all the chaos that goes to pot we really are in for a rough ride and not only in Pakistan.
My other main worry like you is other world political leaders i.e Tony Blair and George Bush I sincerely hope that who ever is in charge of their security that upmost care is taken over it, it would be horrendous if either of those men were taken. I’m sure that they are being protected, I sincerely hope so. A lot of people I know critize these two men for all the world’s ills, which frankly is riddiculous, these people need to look at history to fully understand what is going on to realise it isn’t anything to do with Tony Blair or George Bush. Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox before I get side tracked here, just hope that someone has put in place all the necessary procedures to keep them safe as they possibly can be, after then I guess it is up to fate, God , whatever.
From Shaz
December 30, 2007 at 9:11 pm |
Yes, Shaz, I think many of us thought the same. On reflection I remember commenting to a family member “they’ve got her”, as though it had been expected all along.
Devastating news on so many counts though, isn’t it, whether or not she was “guilty” of financial corruption. She was also guilty of being the first female prime minister of an Islamic state, a fact which many would never have forgiven her for. She was also guilty of being pro-democracy, a fact which … ditto. She was also guilty of being the most western of all the muslim leaders … ditto. She was also guilty of promising to allow the USA and the western powers to pursue terrorists across the Pakistan border to Afghanistan which so far, is something which Musharraf has stopped short of. Ditto BIG time.
Whether or not we ever find out who is responsible for her murder, there is little doubt that there is much manouvering now amongst terrorist groupings. Cash, however sourced, will be flowing betwixt and between people who have no compunction about relentless and indiscrimate murder in pursuit of their ’cause’. Propaganda galore too as to how the west is now on the run – and a teenager is now in charge of Pakistan.
Hope her son now has the security that should have been afforded to his mother.
I understand that as much as three million UK pounds per year is currently being spent protecting Tony Blair. I don’t know the numbers but it can’t be far different for President Bush.
As you say, the ‘unthinkable’ would have incalculable consequences, possibly for the whole world. Those who scream blue murder for the ‘war criminals’ of the west, want to ponder the future without them. I’ve seen that in recent nightmares – and it ain’t good, folks.
January 5, 2008 at 6:45 pm |
When I heard this on BBC. I was shocked. Along with others, I believed she would be elected PM of Pakistan again and help terror to decrease and tackle conflicts arising in Pakistan today.
RIP Benazir Bhutto! You shall be missed by millions/billions of people. At least she left with a wonderful legacy.
January 5, 2008 at 7:29 pm |
Well put, Theodore. It bothers me to hear armchair analysts criticise leaders like this who risk their lives to try to bring democracy to their people. I’ve heard too much over the last few weeks about how she did not want to help “all of the people in Pakistan”, but only her own. It’s as though there ever was any political leader who stood on the basis of identifying with everyone. They all start off belonging to a party, thus a faction, thus with their own interests in mind. When elected, they then speak “for all the people, the whole country” as Blair said in 1997.
Not sure if the Pakistan PPP leadership passing to husband and young son is quite the thing though. But we have a lot to learn about how less mature democracies function. And meanwhile, in Iraq and Afghanistan ….
January 10, 2009 at 7:35 pm |
Hi.
yup I see what you mean! Well at least democracy is occurring with the resignation of Pervez last year.
January 10, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I think all eyes are presently on another part of the world, Theodore.
Still, we have to watch our backs.