Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

Sorry to interrupt the good stream of local news, but I just woke up to this:

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at the end of a campaign rally, aides said.

The death of the 54-year-old charismatic former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 election into chaos and created fears of mass protests and an eruption of violence across the volatile south Asian nation.

The attacker struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, 8 miles south of Islamabad. She was shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up, said, Rehman Malik, Bhutto’s security adviser.

I’m just shocked, and I’m horrified. Why no security for Bhutto? Why no elections until now? Why did this just happen?

I’ll keep you updated when we find out more. Pakistan’s ‘saddest day’ (CNN) 

4 Comments

  1. jose-

    HUH?!

    Chris-

    It’s a little premature to determine who’s behind this, but I also think it was too premature for the State Department to completely exonerate Musharraf. We just don’t know yet. There needs to be a full investigation. The best way for Musharraf to exonerate himself is to allow for a fair investigation of who caused this terrible tragedy.

  2. Andrew,

    I was simply trying to clarify where Jose was coming from.
    Indeed the facts of Bhutto’s return from exhile indicate that Musharraf has far more to lose than gain from Bhutto’s assassination. Bhutto’s return was negotiated d by British and U.S. diplomats in an effort to prop up Musharraf and provide some level of legitimacy to his government. With Bhutto gone, there is little chance of that happening.

    Now virtually all of the major political parties in Pakistan have decided to boycott the elections scheduled for January 8th. The prospect of any real democracy returning to Pakistan in the near future is now highly unlikely.

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