Accusations, riots, and political instability are among the immediate reactions to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Here’s a roundup.
A longtime adviser and close friend of assassinated Pakistani ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto places blame for Bhutto’s death squarely on the shoulders of U.S.-supported dictator Pervez Musharraf.
After an October attack on Bhutto’s life in Karachi, the ex-prime minister warned “certain individuals in the security establishment [about the threat] and nothing was done,” says Husain Haqqani, a confidante of Bhutto’s for decades. “There is only one possibility: the security establishment and Musharraf are complicit, either by negligence or design. That is the most important thing. She’s not the first political leader killed, since Musharraf took power, by the security forces.”
Haqqani notes that Bhutto died of a gunshot wound to the neck. “It’s like a hit, not a regular suicide bombing,” he says. “It’s quite clear that someone who considers himself Pakistan’s Godfather has a very different attitude toward human life than you and I do.”
The immediate finger of suspicion though pointed to Pakistan’s security establishment. A key Benazir aide said the country’s military government had much to answer for the assassination because it had not met certain security arrangements required and officials were “dismissive” about Bhutto’s requests in this regard.
“They could have provided better security. Even the equipment they gave consistently malfunctioned. Bhutto had asked for independent security arrangements,” Hussain Haqqani, a US-based former Bhutto aide told CNN .
Haqqani and other analysts like Peter Bergen also pointed out that the attack took place in Rawalpindi, the military garrison town outside Islamabad that is crawling with security personnel and spooks. The fact that she had been shot dead following up a suicide bombing pointed to a concerted effort to finish her off.
Haqqani said he had spoken to Benazir two days ago and she was concerned about the security arrangement and the military government’s effort to rig the election.
Analysts say President Pervez Musharraf, who stepped down as army chief of the nuclear-armed country two weeks ago under intense international pressure, is likely to seize the moment to reimpose emergency rule and cancel, or at least postpone, elections scheduled for Jan. 8.
“It is fair to assume now that elections cannot go ahead,” said Farzana Shaikh, an expert on Pakistan and an associate fellow at the Chatham House analysis group in London.
“The electoral process has been stopped dead in its tracks. I think there is a very real possibility that Musharraf will decide that the situation has got out of control and that he needs to impose emergency rule again.
She said Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the battle against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, was entering “uncharted waters”, which could lead to instability in a region that has seen three wars fought between Pakistan and its nuclear-armed neighbour India.
BBC:
Some supporters at the hospital wept while others broke into anger, throwing stones at cars and breaking windows.
Protests erupted in other cities as news of the assassination spread
A number of cars were torched in Karachi, capital of the PPP’s heartland province of Sindh, where shots were also reportedly fired Cars were reportedly set on fire in Hyderabad, also in Sindh Province Police in Peshawar, in the north-west, used batons and tear gas to break up a rally by protesters chanting anti-Musharraf slogans Unrest was also reported in Quetta, Multan and Shikarpur
Stocks fell in early trading Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and after the U.S. government reported a weak increase in durable goods orders.
Bhutto’s assassination raised the possibility of increasing political unrest abroad, always an unsettling prospect for investors. Oil, gold and bond prices rose following the news.
Global Voices Online has reactions from Pakistani bloggers.
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and friends of Benazir Bhutto on this very dark and dreadful day. Despite its inevitablity, it has been absolutely obvious that this act would occur during this period, the only mystery is whether the target would have been Musharref first or Bhutto.
I can only hope that individuals can refrain from muddying the waters even further by accusing one or another faction of this dastardly act. I hold no brief for the manner in which the current leader has held on to power and condemn the cowards behind this assassination however, I feel that right now a strong hand on the wheel is the only thing that stands between Pakistan and total descent into madness. Noone and everyone is to blame, let us not add to the insanity.
This event, more than any other that has occurred since the wakeup call from the muezzins of the world Trade towers, is a clarion call from the Walls of Jericho, whi h could easily come tumbling down. Now is the time for every citizen of the planet, of every persuasion or every race, every religion, to take a deep breath and take personal resaponsibility of how we are solving our political and religious problems.
May we all get safely through this dark night to welcome the dawn of a brighter day. We are ALL responsible.
Has to explain to me why she came back at all. It was clear whoever was out to get her from the start.
Was this an act of sheer martyrdom? A point in history that was so crucial that she had to come back and from which there is no return?
Pakistan seems to be an odd country. A substantial number of supporters of democracy, rule of law and a middle class. A substantial number who are radical fundamental islamists (who would never let a western woman rule them) and a military that tries to hold the country together while keeping the other two groups apart. If I had to guess, this will lead to a military junta.
and enough stuff in there to give you a tinfoil tingling headache.
is updated regularly at The Dawn. Lots of violence and destruction of property in many places, disruptions of railway and air travel, statements by officials.
She was a courageous woman who knew she was risking her freedom and her life by returning to Pakistan before the upcoming elections.
Meanwhile, CNN Has Been Replaying Rudy Spokesman’s Response to the news over and over.
It seems that the Giuliani camp is wasting no time in using the tragedy for their own political purposes–and CNN is doing all in their power to let them do so.
An incredibly good diary done by some old hack 😉 Worth reading most every word.
the AP talks about the financial implications for the US.
And also interesting were other early reports that this was al Qaeda, not Musharraf or the ISI that was behind this. Let the games begin…