December 27, 2007
Footage of from the rally after the suicide attack
Zahid Hussain, Islamabad, Jenny Booth and agencies
Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and former Prime Minister, died today after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives during a political rally. About 20 people were killed in the attack.
Ms Bhutto had been addressing crowds at the garrison city of Rawalpindi ahead of Pakistan's general election next month,. She was taken to Rawalpindi General Hospital but could not be saved.
Wasif Ali Khan, a member of her Pakistan People's Party, said that she was pronounced dead at 6.16pm local time (13.16 GMT).
Rehman Malik, a security adviser for the party, suggested that the killer had opened fire as she left the rally, hitting her in the neck and chest, before blowing himself up. He blamed the Pakistani Government for failing to protect Ms Bhutto. He said: "We repeatedly informed the Government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paid no heed to our requests."
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The exact nature of the attack remained unclear, however. Javed Cheema, an interior ministry spokesman, said: "It may have been pellets packed into the suicide bomber’s vest that hit her."
Russia and the United States swiftly condemned the attack, which was being blamed on Islamic militants. A Russian foreign ministry spokesman predicted that it would bring fresh instability to the region and trigger a round of terrorist attacks. An official from the US State Department said: "The attack shows that there are still those in Pakistan trying to undermine reconciliation and democratic development in Pakistan."
As news of her death filtered out, Ms Bhutto's supporters at the hospital began to chant "Dog, Musharraf, dog", referring to Pakistan’s President, Pervez Musharraf. Some smashed the glass entrance door to the emergency unit; others burst into tears.
Islamic militants had vowed to kill Ms Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan in October to contest parliamentary elections, anathematising her as a supporter of Washington's war on terror and a proponent of women's rights.
On October 18 a suicide bomber killed nearly 150 people as Ms Bhutto paraded in an open-topped bus through the southern city of Karachi after returning home from eight years in self-imposed exile. She missed injury by seconds, having left the top deck of her bus to give an interview.
Today's bombing was the second outbreak of political violence in Pakistan. Earlier in the day, gunmen inside the offices of a political party that supports Mr Musharraf opened fire on supporters of another former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, killing four, police said.
Mr Sharif was several kilometres away at the time, on his way to Rawalpindi after attending a rally.
Ms Bhutto, 54, served twice as Pakistan’s Prime Minister between 1988 and 1996. She was born on June 21, 1953, into a wealthy landowning family. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and was president and later prime minister of Pakistan from 1971-77.
After gaining degrees in politics at Harvard and Oxford universities, she returned to Pakistan in 1977, just before the military seized power from her father. She inherited the leadership of the PPP after her father’s execution in 1979 under military ruler General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.
First voted in as prime minister in 1988 - the first woman ever to serve as prime minister of a Muslim country - Ms Bhutto was sacked by the then-president on corruption charges in 1990. She took power again in 1993 after her successor, Mr Sharif, was forced to resign after a row with the president.
But Ms Bhutto was no more successful in her second spell as prime minister, and Mr Sharif was back in power by 1996. In 1999, both she and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, were sentenced to five years in jail and fined $8.6 million on charges of taking bribes from a Swiss company hired to fight customs fraud. A higher court later overturned the conviction as biased.
Ms Bhutto, who had made her husband investment minister during her period in office from 1993 to 1996, was abroad at the time of her conviction and chose not to return to Pakistan.
Mr Sharif meanwhile was deposed by General Pervez Musharraf in a military coup, and went into exile from which he too only returned in the last few weeks.
In 2006 Ms Bhutto joined an Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy with her arch-rival Mr Sharif, but the two disagreed over strategy for dealing with President Musharraf. Ms Bhutto decided it was better to negotiate with him, while Mr Sharif refused to have any dealings with the general.
Both had recently thrown themselves into campaigning for the multi-party parliamentary elections due to be held in Pakistan on January 8.
Global stock markets fell on news of the killing, and the price of gold and government bonds rose.
Have your say
What more needs to be done before Musharraf finally realises he needs to leave the country in peace...
Salute to Bhutto!
Saad, Birmingham,
According to Al Jazeera, she's unhurt...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9C2E2D6-8000-4A4B-B2A0-DA33707A36E0.htm
William Boyd, Brussels, Belgium
We have promoted Musharaf in the west and coveted him because it is convenient for us. If what has been happening in Pakistan had happened in Zimbabwe (and Musharaf is worse than Mugabe in my educated opinion) we would have invaded the country.
BB, BIRMINGHAM,
This was inevitable from the moment she went back to Pakistan.
It's a madhouse; military rule is the ONLY option.
Michael Rigby, Blackburn, England
A very sad news indeed.
The monster of terrorism Pakistan once created to hurt India is now engulfing Pakistan itself. I wish Pakistan learns from its mistakes and takes a determined stance against jehadi terrorism. We all want peace.
Priya Deshi, Kashmir, UK
May she rest in peace!
What a violent world this has become, God help us all!
Mo, Herts,
This is awful news for Pakistan. Bhutto must have been only too aware of the risks she faced on returning to Pakistan and now she has paid the price. Surely the loss of further lives is now inevitable. And a military crackdown?
Tony Clements, London, UK
Let's all hope that Pakistan can resolve its problems peacefully.
John, Scottsdale, AZ
This is terrible news for Pakistan . I was there last week and you could feel the tension and un easy qiute then.
The people desearve better than they have had these past years, dare I say even British rule was better than this!
P Lee, Bangkok, Thailand
