RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed at least 14 of her supporters, doctors, a spokesman for her party and other officials said.

Bhutto is helped from her vehicle following the October 18 suicide attack on her motorcade.

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Bhutto suffered bullet wounds in the aftermath of the bomb attack, TV networks were reporting.

Police warned citizens to stay home as they expected rioting to break out in city streets as a shocked Pakistan absorbed the news of Bhutto's assassination.

Video of the scene just moments before the explosion showed Bhutto stepping into a heavily-guarded vehicle to leave the rally.

Bhutto was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital -- less than two miles from the bombing scene -- where doctors pronounced her dead. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/pakistan.sharif/index.html#cnnSTCVideo" onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab'cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/pakistan.sharif/index.html'; - Watch aftermath of the attack. �

Former Pakistan government spokesman Tariq Azim Khan said while it appeared Bhutto was shot, it was unclear if the bullet wounds to her head and neck were caused by a shooting or if it was shrapnel from the bomb. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/pakistan.sharif/index.html#cnnSTCVideo" onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab'cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/video/world/2007/12/27/rimington.bhutto.obit.cnn'; - Watch Benazir Bhutto obituary. �

The bomber detonated as he tried to enter the rally where thousands of people gathered to hear Bhutto speak, police said.

The number of wounded was not immediately known. However, video of the scene showed ambulances lined up to take many to hospitals.

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• I-Report:  http://www.cnn.com/exchange/ireports/topics/forms/breaking.news.html - Send your tributes, videos, pictures
• http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/bhutto.obit/index.html - Bhutto's turbulent history
• http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/21/pakistan.blast/index.html - 'At least 50' dead in mosque bomb
• http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/03/sharif.vote/index.html - Sharif's candidacy papers rejected

The attack came just hours after four supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif died when members of another political party opened fire on them at a rally near the Islamabad airport Thursday, Pakistan police said.

Several other members of Sharif's party were wounded, police said.

Bhutto, who led Paksitan from 1988 to 1990 and was the first female prime minister of any Islamic nation, was participating in the parliamentary election set for January 8, hoping for a third term. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/bhutto.obit/index.html - Read about Bhutto's turbulent history.

A terror attack targeting her motorcade in Karachi killed 136 people on the day she returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/pakistan.sharif/index.html#cnnSTCOther1" onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab'otherTab1','other1.html',true; - View timeline. �

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CNN's Mohsin Naqvi, who was at the scene of both bombings, said Thursday's blast was not as powerful as that October attack.

Thursday's attacks come less than two weeks after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf lifted an emergency declaration he said was necessary to secure his country from terrorists.

I don�t think she got killed because of corruption brother.

She seemed to have most of the support but regardless of that, was there any point in killing her and dragging Pakistan into chaos, not doing yourselves any favour either.

It is not good news to hear about Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan already is in a critical situation. This will only enhance the difficulties. Whether we agree with her ideas does not give the right to assasinate her.

As she was apparently shot first by the man, why did he detonate a bomb to kill others, namely himself? He was probably too scared himself to survive the consequences. He will certainly not be welcomed to Heaven. So guess he will rot in hell. Rightly so.

Now we will see more innocent lives lost. Why dont assassins think before they act.(this is not a question thanks)

ak_m_f

Our people are uneducated masses easily manipulated by false promises.

Same with every country brother, but why not show these people an alternative, some one who is not corrupt, which I doubt we can find. It�s like saying the system or the people are bad so lets get rid of it, but when it is gone we have nothing better or different to offer them.

Im in no way defending her, but I don�t think the people who carried out this event care much about Pakistans future or the peoples lives, no different from the powers behind the agents your talking about. Im sure this was there plan and now there rejoicing themselves.

imp87 you said:

Same with every country brother

I disagree. I think there are countries in the Middle East where there are large portions of people who are more uneduated than people in other countries. If Religious studies are more dominant than obviously other subjects such as the sciences etc will lack, or will be grossly misinterpretated because of religious influence.

I woke up this morning to hear the news that this woman (Bhutto) was assassinated. Very sad. Brother AK is more knowledgable of this subject as I am so I will stop there as far as what I thibnk about this entire situation. From what I read from the L.A. times, this woman had some issues with PM Pervez Musharraff (I may have mispelled his name). I don't know if this woman was corrupt or not and it would be easy for me to make conclusions based on my heart, but that would be an unfair analysis of the situation. But what I will say is, is that its wrong to kill people for their beliefs and actions (if they do not physically harm you directly). But, politics is a deadly game sometimes.

Martha you said:

"He will certainly not be welcomed to Heaven. So guess he will rot in hell."

How do you know that? Many Muslim fanatics believe if you kill in the name of Allah in combat, this action alone makes you a martyr which is instant paradise.

Israfil,

Show me that todays events were done for the sake of Islam then I will most definately retract my statement.

You said  ' But what I will say is, is that its wrong to kill people for their beliefs and actions (if they do not physically harm you directly'.

This is in agreement with my words. And many muslim fanatics do not understand Islam sufficiently enough to allow them the right to enter paradise. If they did understand  they would not act in this way. Just saying the words 'in the name of Allah' is not sufficient for them to gain entry to paradise.  

You have already said it was wrong. If it is wrong Islamically then this mans fate is sealed. What good reason was there on his part then?

israfil:

I disagree. I think there are countries in the Middle East where there are large portions of people who are more uneduated than people in other countries. If Religious studies are more dominant than obviously other subjects such as the sciences etc will lack, or will be grossly misinterpretated because of religious influence.

I was trying to generalize brother

Of course we are behind in a lot of areas. Unfortunately education is one of them.

Like I said I am not supporting her at all, if she died from heart disease I wouldn�t care, but my point is, was this necessary. I know revolutions, change, democracy or whatever you want to call these situations are not always brought or done peacefully, actually never. But if something is done wrong when bringing that change then we have no right to make excuses or try to justify it, how can this have anything to do with Islam.

Put Bhutto aside for a second, don�t these so called �fighters�, know they are killing Muslims, is suicide allowed, don�t they know killing Bhutto will lead to more deaths and chaos, are we allowed to cause more deaths and chaos.

Im sure and hope every ones answer is the same as mine.

Them murderers are responsible for the lifes they killed, how many of these people had children to feed, how do they know these people didn�t pray five times a day, so I to hope they rot in hell, but that�s Allahs decision not mine.��

Insallah I didn�t say anything Islamically wrong there.

ak_m_f:

Go to charges of corruption section and read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto

Brother she was corrupt or not, maybe she was and a lot of people agree with that by the looks of it. But who do you purpose to lead then?

If we start doing this to everyone that is corrupt then sure thing a lot of heads would be flying off. If we could put them to trail, then do what ever you want to them, but not in this manner.

And no offence to anyone, if for some reason we are having corrupt individuals to lead us, then we are to some extend corrupt and responsible for that, are we not....

Well, Sharif has now decided to boycott the January general election. So what choices face the Pakistani people now?

Pakistan will remain one of the most dangerous places on earth. That is terribly sad.

I dont know about the rest of you, but I'm expecting more attrocities there. I'm sure  there is no denying that the CHristians will again be questioning the Islamic religion and how do we tell them that ours is a peaceful religion. Todays actions just adds more flames to the fire.

ASA,

does anyone know how old her 3 children were? I hope they will be allowed to grieve without being bombarded by the media etc.

Sign*Reader

Your comments,     The corruption and filth in that place is so out of control under the current setup that any thing goes! 

How true these words Something tells me that conditions will deteriorate further. And no doubt the worlds political leaders will add to the continuing suffering of the innocent people of Pakistan.

She said she will fight and remove Islamist by all cost and someone somewhere  (presumed Islamist or Musharraf who knows) responded to her challenge by taking her out. If you vow to kill people, then expect to be challenged and removed by all means. That is brutal reality in Pakistan or shall I say world politics.

After all, she said she will die for democracy. Now she died for it as many political leaders and media empire are telling us. So let she see whether in Quran there is reward for people who dies for democracy principle.

Walid

ak_m_f wrote: Angela wrote: She was killed because she was a woman who dared to run for office in that part of the world in today's society. yes a corrupt woman. Also she was US right hand. Good thing we got rid of her. She promised to give AQ Khan to US. No wonder west is crying for her, they lost their agent.

 Mrs Be Aql Khan Usta : You beat me up black and blue just for HIJAB
Is it ALLAH'S pious punishment or your polluting AHJAB
If i am immodest let then ALLAH punish me
For this unsightly barriers and open revealing beauty
Why are you punishing me will you share my personal hell
Why do you break my vocal box to repair my wind pipe yell

from SWEETSWORDS 86 [ Comparative Religion ]

By Robin Wright and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 28, 2007; A01

For Benazir Bhutto, the decision to return to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/pakistan.html?nav=el" target=" - Pakistan was sealed during a telephone call from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just a week before Bhutto flew home in October. The call culminated more than a year of secret diplomacy -- and came only when it became clear that the heir to Pakistan's most powerful political dynasty was the only one who could bail out Washington's key ally in the battle against terrorism.

It was a stunning turnaround for Bhutto, a former prime minister who was forced from power in 1996 amid corruption charges. She was suddenly visiting with top State Department officials, dining with U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and conferring with members of the National Security Council. As President Pervez Musharraf's political future began to unravel this year, Bhutto became the only politician who might help keep him in power.

"The U.S. came to understand that Bhutto was not a threat to stability, but was instead the only possible way that we could guarantee stability and keep the presidency of Musharraf intact," said Mark Siegel, who lobbied for Bhutto in Washington and witnessed much of the behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

But the diplomacy that ended abruptly with Bhutto's assassination yesterday was always an enormous gamble, according to current and former U.S. policymakers, intelligence officials and outside analysts. By entering into the legendary "Great Game" of South Asia, the United States also made its goals and allies more vulnerable -- in a country in which more than 70 percent of the population already looked unfavorably upon Washington.

Bhutto's assassination leaves Pakistan's future -- and Musharraf's -- in doubt, some experts said. "U.S. policy is in tatters. The administration was relying on Benazir Bhutto's participation in elections to legitimate Musharraf's continued power as president," said Barnett R. Rubin of New York University. "Now Musharraf is finished."

Bhutto's assassination also demonstrates the growing power and reach of militant anti-government forces in Pakistan, which pose an existential threat to the country, said J. Alexander Thier, a former U.N. official now at the U.S. Institute for Peace. "The dangerous cocktail of forces of instability exist in Pakistan -- Talibanism, sectarianism, ethnic nationalism -- could react in dangerous and unexpected ways if things unravel further," he said.

But others insist the U.S.-orchestrated deal fundamentally altered Pakistani politics in ways that will be difficult to undo, even though Bhutto is gone. "Her return has helped crack open this political situation. It's now very fluid, which makes it uncomfortable and dangerous," said Isobel Coleman of the Council on Foreign Relations. "But the status quo before she returned was also dangerous from a U.S. perspective. Forcing some movement in the long run was in the U.S. interests."

Bhutto's assassination during a campaign stop in Rawalpindi might even work in favor of her Pakistan People's Party, with parliamentary elections due in less than two weeks, Coleman said. "From the U.S. perspective, the PPP is the best ally the U.S. has in terms of an institution in Pakistan."

Bhutto's political comeback was a long time in the works -- and uncertain for much of the past 18 months. In mid-2006, Bhutto and Musharraf started communicating through intermediaries about how they might cooperate. Assistant Secretary of State Richard A. Boucher was often an intermediary, traveling to Islamabad to speak with Musharraf and to Bhutto's homes in London and Dubai to meet with her.

Under U.S. urging, Bhutto and Musharraf met face to face in January and July in Dubai, according to U.S. officials. It was not a warm exchange, with Musharraf resisting a deal to drop corruption charges so she could return to Pakistan. He made no secret of his feelings.

In his 2006 autobiography "In the Line of Fire," Musharraf wrote that Bhutto had "twice been tried, been tested and failed, [and] had to be denied a third chance." She had not allowed her own party to become democratic, he alleged. "Benazir became her party's 'chairperson for life,' in the tradition of the old African dictators!"

A turning point was Bhutto's three-week U.S. visit in August, when she talked again to Boucher and to Khalilzad, an old friend. A former U.S. ambassador in neighboring http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/afghanistan.html?nav=el" target=" - Afghanistan , Khalilzad had long been skeptical about Musharraf, and while in Kabul he had disagreed with then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell over whether the Pakistani leader was being helpful in the fight against the Taliban. He also warned that Pakistani intelligence was allowing the Taliban to regroup in the border areas, U.S. officials said.

When Bhutto returned to the United States in September, Khalilzad asked for a lift on her plane from New York to Aspen, Colo., where both were giving speeches. They spent much of the five-hour plane ride strategizing, said sources familiar with the diplomacy.

Friends say Bhutto asked for U.S. help. "She pitched the idea to the Bush administration," said Peter W. Galbraith, a former U.S. ambassador and friend of Bhutto from their days at Harvard. "She had been prime minister twice, and had not been able to accomplish very much because she did not have power over the most important institutions in Pakistan -- the ISI [intelligence agency], the military and the nuclear establishment," he said.

"Without controlling those, she couldn't pursue peace with http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/india.html?nav=el" target=" - India , go after extremists or transfer funds from the military to social programs," Galbraith said. "Cohabitation with Musharraf made sense because he had control over the three institutions that she never did. This was the one way to accomplish something and create a moderate center."

The turning point to get Musharraf on board was a September trip by Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte to Islamabad. "He basically delivered a message to Musharraf that we would stand by him, but he needed a democratic facade on the government, and we thought Benazir was the right choice for that face," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and National Security Council staff member now at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy.

"Musharraf still detested her, and he came around reluctantly as he began to recognize this fall that his position was untenable," Riedel said. The Pakistani leader had two choices: Bhutto or former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whom Musharraf had overthrown in a 1999 military coup. "Musharraf took what he thought was the lesser of two evils," Riedel said.

Many career foreign policy officials were skeptical of the U.S. plan. "There were many inside the administration, at the State and Defense Departments and in intelligence, who thought this was a bad idea from the beginning because the prospects that the two could work together to run the country effectively were nil," said Riedel.

As part of the deal, Bhutto's party agreed not to protest against Musharraf's reelection in September to his third term. In return, Musharraf agreed to lift the corruption charges against Bhutto. But Bhutto sought one particular guarantee -- that Washington would ensure Musharraf followed through on free and fair elections producing a civilian government.

Rice, who became engaged in the final stages of brokering a deal, called Bhutto in Dubai and pledged that Washington would see the process through, according to Siegel. A week later, on Oct. 18, Bhutto returned.

Ten weeks later, she was dead.

Xenia Dormandy, former National Security Council expert on South Asia now at Harvard University's Belfer Center, said U.S. meddling is not to blame for Bhutto's death. "It is very clear the United States encouraged" an agreement, she said, "but U.S. policy is in no way responsible for what happened. I don't think we could have played it differently."

U.S. policy -- and the commitment to Musharraf -- remains unchanged. In a statement yesterday, Rice appealed to Pakistanis to remain calm and to continue seeking to build a "moderate" democracy.

"I don't think it would do any justice to her memory to have an election postponed or canceled simply as a result of this tragic incident," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. "The only people that win through such a course of action are the people who perpetrated this attack."

Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.

Lets not pretend.  She was killed because she was a woman who dared to run for office in that part of the world in today's society.

Angela, we need to examine a whole range of suspects before gliding in to that great western favourite of victim womens' abyss. BB had been a Prime Minister twice and in between when she wasn�t in office, she used to happily roam about at her favourite Karachi and Lahore spots.

No body ever thought of harming her.

But then that was all before 1999.

Long before the Bush n Mush gang took over that otherwise quite peaceful fun country.

I have spent almost the whole of this year travelling in Pakistan. Today, even our good old US returned Pakistani friends (all the Gymkhana plus crowd) have had, as the English expression goes, upto here with this War on Terror circus. I won�t even attempt to disclose the man in the street�s response just out of sheer simple decency.

US obsession with their darling anti-terror Talisman has become an irritant (I know, I am understating the situation out there) for men of every class there.

The General needed a clear hand for extension of his rule.

Things had turned very bad for the poor general and he needed a clear path fro enhancing his rule, towards the end of his term. He needed a home made sort of a Supreme Court.

He summoned the Chief Justice of Pakistan to the Army House (the Chief of army staff's official residence) and had him bullied by his intelligence (or, the Lack of Intelligence) chiefs. I was in Lahore on that fabled 9th March. I won't waste your time in describing how the folks, specially the professional and the educated classes, reacted to it.

And, by the Ides of March the pot was on the full boil.

Let's sail past the Lal Masjid drama and all other events of the lost summer.

On 3rd November, emergency was declared.

This was green lighted by the Islamabad US embassy. It makes simple straightforward sense. The US had been more than just desperate to keep Mush in his chair than possibly even poor Mush himself. Both, Mush and Bush, knew by midday of the 2nd November that the Supreme Court was going to rule Mush's dodgy election, by a defunct Assembly, illegal.

(If I, with my meagre resources, knew by 13:24 UK time, I bet the States and their idiot definitely knew it by then!

Why were they going to rule that?

Plain and simple. The Constitution of Pakistan requires that any government servant is barred from contesting for ANY public office, for a clear period of 24 calendar months, after leaving office.

Our favourite man in Eyezlambabad was still in government service.

I swear upon my scout's honour that a Chief of the Army Staff is a government servant.

He arrested all the Judges of the Higher courts, at gun point and handed them an oath of personalised loyalty. And, he put all those who didn�t take his oath, in sub-jails surrounded by barbed wire.

He trashed the Constitution and put together a court of his own choice and got them to rubberstamp his election.

Let�s say that he has put all the lawyers, civic leaders, human rights activists and any and every known professional decent Pakistani in mini concentration camps. Complete with brutish armed guards and torture techniques just this side of water boarding and other few US favourites.

The US had hatched a plan to arrange a marriage of convenience between their bad boy and our bad daughter. All her court cases went missing almost like those CIA water boarding tapes!

People of Pakistan had been feeling under army occupation for a good long time. Other dictators had been very bad, but the army had never been used for exterminating own people.

And, in all this fiasco of these past few weeks, the US has been caught playing a game with the people of Pakistan. The State Department has been just spinning the great doffing of the uniform as if he had given up some inheritance he had had from his maternal grandfather (nana in Urdu, his mother tongue, not mine)!

Every soldier retires and has to learn to live in his civvies one day.

I am sad, but I am not surprised that BB has been shot dead.

Today, the situation in Pakistan is that if you want anyone dead, just label the person as a US ally. She had been viewed as an extension of the US interference in the country�s affairs.

Let�s move to other possible suspects:

1.                   Good old Altaf Bhai. MQM had taken advantage of her absence from the political arena and carved part of her vote bank and taken Sind. She had started to reclaim her vote bank since her return. MQM are also in the suspect list for the October attack on her life.

2.                   Pervez Ellahi group; Pervez�s uncle, Chaudhary Zahoor Ellahi, one of the finest men I have known in my wandering years, was eliminated by Al-Zulfikar, and organisation run by BB�s brother to avenge his father�s death

3.                   PP Stray Elements; A fairly large part of her PPP had felt betrayed by her deal with a dictator.

4.                   General Public Strays: We know what the Amrekanos think of Dr Qadeer Khan and, today, since the US bickering and badmouthing of the Iranian Nuclear Energy programme, Pakistanis have come to know why the Americans are after Dr Qadeer.

Now, the problem is that an average Paki holds Qadeer Khan in greater esteem than even the Founder of the nation. BB had promised the US to bag and deliver them Dr Qadeer Khan. This has been taken as her primary sin by every single shade of opinion I have met in these past few weeks. It�s possible that some stray young man had taken it upon himself to put an end to someone he viewed as a traitor.

5.                   The Agencies: BB and her family did not have a comfortable relationship with the agencies and to a degree also with the army officers� corps. The agencies had for long considered the Bhutto family as some kind of bad eggs. There is a huge explanation, but we better sail past it for now.

6.                   Her own Family: Her brother�s widow and a good part of the more influential Bhutto clan (ZAB or even his father, (Sir) Shahnawaz were, in fact, a bit of nominal Bhuttos.

When ZAB took over, in 1972, from General Yahya Khan, he had to delay his television address to the nation for a few hours, for striking a deal with cousin (Mumtaz Bhutto) who had a succession case going in the High Court for years to get ZAB struck off the Bhutto inheritance!

ZAB was not born as Zulfikar Ali.

He was given birth, as Ghansi Ram, by a very attractive young Bombay socialite who was kept by Pandit jee (Jawahar Lal Nehru)

She was four months on her way when Shahnawaz took her over. Sir Shahnawaz adopted when ZAB was born � according to the British Indian law, the natural father of the child had to consent the adoption. ZAB�s adoption certificate was signed by Nehru.

It�s along story, let�s not touch it right now, but the long and the short of it is that Shanawaz�s father never allowed him to bring her and the child home. He and his mother stayed in a house just a few miles outside the ancestral home, for a full nine years and as Ghansi Ram! Bhutto clan rivalry is quite a venomous factor.

7.                   The CIA: Now, I haven�t had time to weigh this possibility up for shortage of time, but I accidentally happened to be in a discussion soon after BB and Nawaz had both returned to Pakistan. Can it be possible that the Americans are keen to create a situation in Pakistan that would justify PLACING NATO TROOPS there

� under the pretext of Safeguarding zat coontree�s Nuke assets!! And also encircle IRAN?

My friend, think with an open mind.

Though I expected her death (was almost sure of it),  I see that things are going to get even more horrific in the world. But it is said that things get better only after they reach their worst.

La ilaaha illa Allah.

Pray for the people of the world, we're going to need it.

Salaam to all.

Those are very interesting points Whisper.  It leaves a lot for one to think about.

When a crime takes place, it's our duty to examine all its angles, not just the one that happens to be our favourite. No?

Please, tell the Americans that their collective low IQ average did it!

Al-qaeda is a mere figment of the US media's spin. It doesn't exist, it's decimated. All that's happening in today's Pakistan is CIA's (plus, Mossad's) doing - just for creating conditions for moving NATO forces - like the US did in Yugoslavia.

Not all Americans believe Al-Qaeda is behind everything the media says it is.  I wouldn't go so far as to say it doesn't exist, or rather, didn't exist.  Yet, I think many people are getting tired of everything getting tied to that organization.  It is obvious they are trying to keep a central enemy that the American people can support fighting.  If this idea of "Al-Qaeda" fell apart, then so would many of the US policies (we can't be having that of course). 

The smarter American people know this, but unfortunately the not so smart ones (the low IQ folks) believe the "Al-Qaeda" idea because it is easy.  They don't know any better and they will not bother to learn because it is easier to be a blind sheep to the goverments actions.

Anyway, don't shoot the messenger.  I am just passing on the latest news spin here.  I certainly don't agree with it.

Plus, I am getting quite addicted to the messages!

Benazir aide says govt explanation �pack of lies�

ISLAMABAD, Dec 28: A top aide to slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Friday rejected the government�s explanation of her death as a �pack of lies�.

The Pakistan interior ministry said Ms Bhutto died when she hit her head on her vehicle�s sunroof as she ducked after a gun and suicide attack on a campaign rally, and that no bullets or shrapnel were found in her.

�It is baseless. It is a pack of lies,� Farooq Naik, Ms Bhutto�s top lawyer and a senior official in her Pakistan People�s Party, told AFP.

�Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head,� Mr Naik said. �Bhutto�s personal secretary Naheed Khan and party official Makhdoom Amin Fahim were in the car and they saw what happened,� he said.

�It is an irreparable loss and they are turning it into a joke with such claims. The country is heading towards civil war.� Interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema said earlier that the post-mortem on the populist opposition leader found her mortal wound came when she tried to duck after the bomber attacked.

�The government is now claiming that Baitullah Mehsud is responsible,� Mr Naik told AFP. �What is the evidence?�

He added: �She was taken to hospital. She was bleeding. It was a serious security lapse.��AFP 

I wouldn't go so far as to say it doesn't exist, or rather, didn't exist. 

Listen, give me just less than a wee minute. Defense makes a lot of dollar sense? A never ending war may not be your dream or mine, but it's definitely the greatest find for the Industrial Compact.

It's the smartest scam to sweepclean your tax dollars in trillions not just in mere billions. It is the best industry, no one ever demands any product performance guarantees. If you are not satisfied with your T-shirt, you can take the till receipt and get a refund on it.

But, what do you get for 16 daisycutters you paid, with your tax deductions, last year if they don't go boom? (Other than the satisfaction that you have killed your share of Afghan infants)

Has anyone ever stood up to demand how much of his or her tax dollars are being spent on each Civilian Contractor? Defense spending has no field audits or checks at all.

All other trades, say construction, just for an instance, has performance and other regulatory standards laid out. We expect our money's worth even from a school teacher. It's just another matter that in our glorious Cap It All itis striken society, the poor woman doesn't earn, in her life time, what a footballer's delight can spend in a day's shopping.

War is the biggest money spinner. I am told even bigger than all the on-line casinos and the porn site put together. This machine has to be kept going. If we don't, we don't get the campaign funds we badly need for being able to place ourselves in the service of our absolutely beloved people!

We have time and again invented enemies to fight and destroy. Most of our past enemies were real and when we had destroyed our enemy, we had to pack up and sit on our stockpiles of all manners of wild and dangerous things. The collapse of the silly Soviet Union wasn't really a good thing. It made the whole lot of us redundant, just plain simple jobless.

Sometimes you must sit up and have a thought for all those poor Billionaires in their utter jobless plight. 

Their R & D gurus developed a brand new enemy after the Soviet Union collapsed. This enemy is not visible. It's just a virtual enemy. It's not real. Al-qaeda is a character coined by a Hollywood scriptwriter or some Presidential speech artist.

It never dies, it keeps growing and it is and can anywhere, like those Monstors Inc. ghosts. These days Bush uses the Al-Qaeda stickers for lumping together anyone and everyone who is fighting against the occupations of their countries, in Afghanistan, Iraq, anywhere.

Mush uses the same sticker for eliminating opposition to his illegal occupation of his own pobre people - of course, just and always backed by his only friend, Bush Mk II.

If Al-Qaeda exists why don't we negotiate a ceasefire with them? And, divert all these trillions we are losing into our healthcare, education and a bit of it for putting in better levies where these migt be needed.

My friend, Al-qaeda is a scam for emptying your pockets under the threat of invisible ghosts of your own fear!

Sorry, forgot to add; it's as big a fraud as of keeping OBL alive. All the people in the world who know anything worth knowing know that the man died of renal failure, years ago.

But then we must keep him alive for spending some more of your dollars on finding him and that is quite a costly affair!

poga wrote: ak_m_f wrote: Angela wrote: She was killed because she was a woman who dared to run for office in that part of the world in today's society. yes a corrupt woman. Also she was US right hand. Good thing we got rid of her. She promised to give AQ Khan to US. No wonder west is crying for her, they lost their agent.    Mrs Be Aql Khan Usta : You beat me up black and blue just for HIJAB Is it ALLAH'S pious punishment or your polluting AHJAB If i am immodest let then ALLAH punish me For this unsightly barriers and open revealing beauty Why are you punishing me will you share my personal hell Why do you break my vocal box to repair my wind pipe yell from SWEETSWORDS 86 [ Comparative Religion ]

Mr Barzakh Fitarh Ullah : My common assault was in response to your grievous bodily harm
You pollute enemy of my pure pious SIAM
With intoxicating knockout wink and deadly milkshake
You injured the part what cannot tolerate the ache
With your bowl of sweetmeat you inflamed my boneless fleshy rod
And shed my drops more precious than oceans of blood

from SWEETSWORDS 86 [ Comparative Religion ]

Benazir aide says bathed body, saw bullet wound ISLAMABAD, Dec 29 (AFP) Sherry Rehman, a close aide to Benazir Bhutto and also her spokeswoman, told AFP Saturday she saw a bullet wound in the Pakistani opposition leader's head when she bathed her body after her assassination. Rehman, who said she was in the former premier's motorcade at the time of the gun and suicide attack, rejected government claims that the death was caused when Benazir's head hit her sunroof. �I was actually part of the party which bathed her body before the funeral,� said Rehman, who added that her car was used to transport Benazir to hospital. �There was a bullet wound I saw that went in from the back of her head and came out the other side. �We could not even wash her properly because the wound was still seeping. She lost a huge amount of blood.� Rehman accused the government of mounting a cover-up over Benazir's death. �The hospital was made to change its statement. They never gave a proper report,� she said. �I believe the interior ministry is saying that she died from some concussion that may have taken place against the sunroof. This is ridiculous, dangerous nonsense because it is a cover-up of what actually happened.� (Posted @ 13:00 PST)

If she were killed by Al-Qaeda or whatever other figment of our programmed imagination, why would the Pakistani government go head over heels for such a cover up?

Well, whatever one may say about the political characaterization of BeNazir Bhutto (BB), one thing is clear from this killing is that danger to Pakistan is clearly from within its own people i.e. those who are Sympathesizers of 'Bin Laden' theology commonly known as "Muslim extremists". According to their convictions, world is eternally Bi-polarized by the very advent of (their) Islam. Thus any notion of "western" influence, how good it may otherwise be, should always be rejected simply because of its origin from "Darul Harb", a place of eternal fighting against (their) Islam. According to these extremists, who have now become the terrorists, it was BB's crime to get US support to transform the Military rule in Pakistan from the hands of Army General President Musharaf to Plain President Mushraf. In contrast to a common understanding where the enemy of an enemy could be seen as a friend, these fanatics consdiered her as a priority one target,probably because of following reasons:

(i) BB got support from "Darul Harb" to pressurise a democratic rule in the country.

(ii) BB has vowed to curb the terrorists the same way as Mush is doing.

(iii) Its BB's crime to be a women and yet ask for leadership of their country.

(iv) It is the right time to "Nip the evil in the bud" where she don't have the luxury of Govt's protection/security just like Mush have it.

 in the end, I would say, the country has lost a big opportunity to move forward towards moderation and development through democracy.

in the end, I would say, the country has lost a big opportunity to move forward towards moderation and development through democracy.

Sir, very late Eid Mubarek.

And, the country will move forward towards moderation and development through democracy with Mush sitting on the rubble a demolished judiciary?

The poor woman was also scared of reinstating the judges.

I've listened in silence long enough and I am seriously disgusted by you all.

A human being has been murdered.  Who cares what her politics were, how you spell her name (Duende), or whether it is now appropriate to call her simply by her last name (Whisper): a fact, not a person.  Easy to objectify then, verdad? And don't try to sell me your McDemocracy - I've heard it from you before ad nauseum, and even first hand. And Whisper, for Goodness sake, learn to quote your sources: this is a Forum, not a personal conversation!

Intelligent people, perhaps people with influence (?), with brilliant insights, and so much destruction at their fingertips.  For shame...when you could be putting it to so much better use.

For that matter: why does "Angela's Plan" resurface after so long just to be taken out of context, and systematically destroyed?  A needless rhetorical question it would seem.

I'd rather die naive and full of hope, than a cynic in a so-called intelligent world.

Maybe you all shoud look at a few more recent definitions of Intelligence. Try Gardner, and Goleman, for a start.

I don't know why I bother.

I come here to learn and all you people do with your pot boiling and your cynicism and negativity is to make me very, very sad.

I stand by my last post on Angela's Plan, and all you seem to do is to try to make your self-fulfilling prophecies hold water.

But then, no one listened to the original Cassandra either.

Why can't you put your petty differences aside, try to find a personal and collective compassionate synapse or two, and concentrate on a peaceful solution before so much more blood is shed?

No wonder Islam is so misunderstood in the West, and I have made so many attempts to try to understand.

Enough already.  Basta ya!  Can't you just learn to grieve, for the fate of the world without making this tragedy into a personal soapbox? I see nothing constructive in this thread.

C

If anyone cares, please see my last post on Angela's Plan.

C

A human being has been murdered. 

. . . or whether it is now appropriate to call her simply by her last name (Whisper)

My friend, it seems that you are mixing my post up with something else. Could you specify where am I trying to sell someone's last name?

And don't try to sell me your McDemocracy

Sorry, wrong number, I am not the McDemocracy merchant. It's the Americans who were trying to set up a McDemocracy in Pakistan, by matching her up with a despot. I don't have the time or the desire to go into the details of everything that they have been trying to stitch up in that country.

And Whisper, for Goodness sake, learn to quote your sources: this is a Forum, not a personal conversation!

I am afraid, when I copy and paste I post it complete with the author's ref. Unfortunately, in this and quite a few other instances, I happen to be the the source. If you have any issues with my posts, please just pass, I promise, I won't turn grey.

Politics is politics, it's not some soppy story. She knew the stakes and still decided to play her hand. She was a marked woman the day she agreed that deal to paint a dictator in kosher colours, with an election brush.

Please don't get angry with us. MQM (head quarters in London) seem to be the most likely lads, she was eating heavily into their Sind vote bank, please, take them to task, I promise, none of us dunn it.

My friend, you seem to have no clue at all about the situation in that region or about the person we are talking about and this seems to upset you for nothing. Shall it not be better to talk about something else?

If you insist, this may help you:

�The fact is that she was parachuted in by Washington in order to win a rigged election in a country where just about every power group absolutely hated her, a recipe for disaster.  It is not so much a question of who killed her, but who got the first opportunity to succeed.� 

Post deleted.  I realise I have fallen into my own trap.  And while in metaphor mode, the landscape looks surprisingly like Plato's cave.

Oh, and just one last thing before I go, which shouldn't go unnoticed:

From a quote by Duende, for whose intellect and knowledge I have always had the utmost respect even if we are coming at issues from a different perspective:

"there was no need to massacre so many people if the target was simply a political leader." (emphasis mine)

Duende, did you really think about this before you wrote it?  If you did, I am truly frightened of and for you ..

Cassie over and out

Hmm

I think that there is a lot of grief for the thousands of people all over  the world who are dying due to corruption and greed. BB and the others who died are more casulties of this.

I think that there is a lot of grief for the thousands of people all over  the world who are dying due to corruption and greed. BB and the others who died are more casulties of this.

Over 300 men, women and cute little children, some just sucklers, are killed by these grand masters of Democracy, freedom and Liberty, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

And, these are added on to a register maintained in the name of a ghost, possibly, created by I have no idea who, but for sure for their own people - called Al-Qaeda.

And, nobody sheds even a crocodile's tear.

An American agent dies and comapssion oozes out of people who slept when over a million Iraqi men, women and children were dusted off the map of some land with the hidden treasure.

And, I should accept it as intellect? Compassion and all of that. I am not running away, just going for the second cup of tea. In the meanwhile read this and do your home work, I will be asking quite a few questions:

Pakistan's flawed and feudal princess

It's wrong for the West simply to mourn Benazir Bhutto as a martyred democrat, says this acclaimed south Asia expert. Her legacy is far murkier and more complex

William Dalrymple
Sunday December 30, 2007
http://www.observer.co.uk/ - The Observer

Sasha

"Let's talk about something else." "Upset for nothing"? Excuse me?

My friend, it�s always best to talk of simpler things when we are as out of breath if not simply out of depth as you happen to be right now. I have never seen you upset at all the other Humans being killed, left right and centre, day in and twice by the night.

Is it because those are killed, by our own boys or do they happen to be lesser humans for they ispeak no English?

But I am trying to get to grips with the sheer anger and confusion I am feeling right now

If you knew anything about how the US stooges are treated in some lands, since their War on Terror circus, you won�t have been frying in such anger. Plus, if you knew that her slain brother�s Al-Zulfikar is also one of the suspects, you would have been as calm as many of us.

Please have a glass of water, if not some dry Anis, and read this passage:

Within her party, she declared herself the lifetime president of the PPP and refused to let her brother Murtaza challenge her. When he persisted in doing so, he ended up shot dead in highly suspicious circumstances outside the family home. Murtaza's wife Ghinwa and his daughter Fatima, as well as Benazir's mother, all firmly believed that Benazir gave the order to have him killed.

and no, your usual rhetoric ain't gonna work this time, sorry.

I will pass this comment in sheer sympathy for your exceptionally innocent overreaction.

Try reading mine with more compassion and less ego. Perhaps I am just a "voice in the Wilderness":

My friend, I have read and also re-read your mails, but I have miserably failed at making any head or tail of these. I promise you, I would have joined you wholeheartedly if we had some proof of such compassion also for those thousands killed every single day of the week, without any respite.

I am unable to be a party to any such exclusive and classic compassion.

You of all people are in a position to say something constructive about the future.

What�s wrong with the future?

Since when future came to be hinged to someone who robbed her people of approx. 2.4 billion and had agreed to act as the US mole just for her lust of power.

Yes, the future of the McDemocracy that the US were attempting to stitch up in Pakistan is definitely now in tatters. I didn�t realise your future was linked with that of the State Department�s?

What happens to Pakistan now? 

What was she?

Some Gaad or a mother hen hatching Pakistan in her barn? Pakistan is safe. She was only interested in saving her position, never had any sympathy for any country, ever. Her death will force a dictator to run away. This has already forced the Washington arm twisters to see that all their designs do not go as planned.

Pakistan just needs a rule of law?

They need a government of their own choice, not one that was being imposed on them, by London or Washington. (Please, have another glass of water and just try and understand McDemocracy).

Just one question for you; do the people of Pakistan have any right to govern themselves?

Or, you think they are all idiots just because they don�t speak enough English?

What can you tell us, the World, about the affect these events may have on all our future?

I didn�t realise your future was placed at such a delicate position that it would roll off the rails just with one person�s death? Let me remind you as a friend that your future id blackened by all those other deaths going on day and night, IN YOUR NAME.

Your diatribes against America wear me out.

I am glad, my words don�t kill like the American guns and greed, these just wear you out!

I would see how much you would shout and scream had they trampled your country and were killing even one tenth of the people they are killing in mine.

Do I remember correctly, in this very post, you did mention compassion, somewhere?

. . . other than drinking whiskey with Musharaff you don't seem to have much respect for him either

I have just a wee bit of Capricorn in me, I have far better drinking companions, poets, artists, writers and also a few old actor friends. I didn�t invite Mush in even when he had visited us, years ago, with a cousin who was his classmate at the college - some strange vibes!

It�s a mere rumour. He doesn�t visit us on his evening Lahore trips, he goes to his good old pal Zee�s house, the next street, just in between ours and the Sharif�s.

nor the hatred in your homeland. We, as a species, are worth more.

What hatred?

Do people have any right to protect ourselves against Anglo-American designs?

Where was this hatred in the pre 1999 days?

It�s the most expensive of any Duty-Free imports, delivered to us from 52,000 feet up in the air and through hordes of NATO troops wandering in Afghanistan and now also expected to arrive in Pakistan, next month.

If you are really concerned with your future, please, start mourning this grand arrival of the NATO troops in Pakistan as they will meet the Afghan and Pakistani forces, combined.

America urges PML-N, other parties to contest polls

By Anwer Iqbal

WAHINGTON, Dec 29: The United States is urging all moderate political forces in Pakistan, including the PML-N, to participate in the national elections.

A senior State Department official told a briefing in Washington that US diplomats were reaching out to moderate Pakistani political parties in the wake of Benazir Bhutto�s assassination, urging them to join in the election process and to cooperate in fighting extremism.

Officials say Undersecretary for Political Affairs Nicolas Burns and Assistant Secretary for South Asia Richard Boucher are leading the effort, and calls have been made to, among others, PML-N leaders.

What are the Amrecanos doing if not packaging some McDemocracy burgers in that pobre country. Is it my fault people react to their vulgar greed and Imperialistic desires?

Braderaan tay Hamsheeraan e Islam y Non-Musalman pleeze forget everything else in this whole wide (Or, is it wild?) world, just solve this one!!!

US concerns

PRESIDENT Bush is reported to have consulted close aides about the critical turn the situation in Pakistan has taken following Benazir Bhutto�s murder, and the dominant concern emerging out of these contacts has been about the steps the US should take to maintain stability since, should things go out of hand, its interests would suffer. The Americans fear that the incident would encourage militants to intensify their activities in the country and that other important personalities could become their target. And if the militants pose serious challenge, one view was that Washington would be compelled to support President Musharraf. Besides, the US is also in touch with other big powers to stress the point that �the political process developing Pakistan�s democracy continues.� But how could propping up President Musharraf, whose public ratings have fallen abysmally low, be reconciled with promoting the institution of democracy beats one�s mind.

The simple question is: Is this situation being created by the US services to create a situation in which the US actively intervenes to prop Musharref?

Specially and in wake of the fact that the US forces start to arrive in Pakistan in January - albeit - to train and assist Pakistani forces - under an agreement executed by Mush in the smoke screen of the emergency!!!!!

This thread reminds me of Stalin's gem:

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.

Frankly, I don't give a damn about BB's death. Many innoncent people are killed in large numbers every month, the world keeps quiet and the presstitute doesn't consider it important.

Angela, I agree with the basic theme of what you are saying, but a few holes need to be plugged to make it a bit real and, as our S*R would say, I would put my two cents for those holes.

Who lodged the allegations against her and previously her father? 

Better we start with ZAB, her father, a man who I came to know, personally, because of a range of our mutual friends and grew to admire some positive aspects of his person.

There were no allegations against him at all.

A regular FIR was filed and a murder case registered against him (at Ichhra police station, Lahore) when he was the head of state, by a Ahmad Raza Khan also lovingly known as Ahmaq (idiot) Raza khan by his intimate friends and the family, for his utter eccentric behaviour.

Ahmad was a primary Founder member of the PPP and one of the six or so persons who made ZAB�s break through possible in Punjab, the largest Pakistani province.

ZAB was not the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan as our ;oveable media would love to paint him. The Awami League had swept a landslide victory in the 1970 elections and, Mujeeb ur Rehman was, obviously, invited by Yahya Khan to form the government.

A National Assembly session was called to be held in Dacca.

But our friend ZAB was a great democrat. He was okay with it, but it seems that his feudality couldn�t allow him to sit on the opposition benches. The great man threw tantrums of his defeat and openly (it�s all on record) threatened to break the legs of anyone who even attempted to go to Dacca for that Assembly Session! ZAB would break Pakistan, but never let a chance of power run through his fingers!

Ahmaq Raza tried his best to reason with ZAB but it didn't work. From that day Ahmad was a marked man. I have the first hand account, but let�s skip through the many attempts on his life for airing his views in the National Assembly, openly.

But, one evening, the FSF (Federal Security Force, ZAB�s personal Gestapo) marksmen won. As luch would have it, that day Ahmed wasn�t feeling well and his father, Nawab Mohammed Ahmed, had taken the driver�s seat. He was killed on the spot.

Ahmed lodged an FIR the same very hour naming Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and others as the responsible party. No one could ever legally implicate ZAB, but sometimes just a tiny angry scribble on a file requiring someone to be actually �liquidated� surfaces.

Where was her trial? 

In Pakistan, Spain + Switzerland.

The Swiss trial was for money laundering lodged by the Swiss prosecutors, I doubt if they had any political motivations?

It really doesn't matter about truth or fiction.  Every individual, political or not, has the basic right to have the charges read against them in a court and to have those charges answered. 

Charges were read. If these were some baseless charges, she won�t have to make a deal with any devil, least of all with the worst military dictator the country has ever had? Just for cleaning her slate.

This never happened.  So, going from the Western mindset, you are innocent until proven guilty.

I am a perpetual student, please, educate me if know anything that I might have missed.

I wonder if any Pakistan would stand up and tell us about the Surrey Palace that the both have been denying any knowledge off till it was sold off and proceeds paid in to the government of Pakistan account?

He could have been from a number of sources.

Could have been from Al-Zulfikar � her brothers exceptionally effective organisation.

�Within her party, she declared herself the lifetime president of the PPP and refused to let her brother Murtaza challenge her. When he persisted in doing so, he ended up shot dead in highly suspicious circumstances outside the family home. Murtaza's wife Ghinwa and his daughter Fatima, as well as Benazir's mother, all firmly believed that Benazir gave the order to have him killed.

I am sure, her mother is not politically motivated?

She died doing what she believed in.

I agree totally, she believed that only she and her family hold the right to rule Pakistan and she did die for it leaving a will and bequeathing a national political party to her son!

She was the real threat for change to occur.

Yes, I agree, she was the only prospect for a change of American colours in Pakistan. Other than that, what would anyone give a nation who won�t even give a party that was collectively founded and developed by some very talented people???

You have got her painting that has been air brushed by the US media for their own agenda.

Poor BB was killed for romancing the State Department and for making some treasonable promises to the Pentagon. It's a strange world, specially since 3rd November, just place a Made in America tag on anyone and his own neighbours will kill him.

We have had upto here with America and their War on Terror circus.

Paa Jee, please! Look at this one. She came back, realised that she had been the idiot that she was in taking that hot potatoe deal. Tried to hand it back to the Amrekanos.

The Amrekanos work by the traditional Costa Nostra Mafiosi Faren Pal icy manuals. Can you also not hear? "Hell, if she ain't our gal, any longer, just bin the bastard, bump her off man" 

�Benazir distanced herself from deal�

Dawn - front Page

WASHINGTON, Dec 31: Before her death, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had distanced herself from a US-brokered power-sharing deal between her and President Pervez Musharraf, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

According to veteran Post journalist Robert D. Novak, Ms Bhutto had sent a written complaint to a senior State Department official saying that her camp no longer viewed the backstage US move as a good-faith effort towards democracy.

Instead, it was seen as an attempt to preserve the politically endangered Mr Musharraf as US President George W. Bush�s man in Islamabad, she wrote.

Since her return to Pakistan on Oct 18, Ms Bhutto sent several urgent pleas to the State Department, seeking US assistance for better protection.

The US reaction was that she was worried over nothing, expressing assurance that President Musharraf would not let anything happen to her.

Distraught by the lack of US interests in her protection, Ms Bhutto began to distance herself from the US-backed power-sharing arrangement, the Post said.

The US decision to arrange a Bhutto-Musharraf alliance was based on Pakistan�s strategic importance as a sanctuary for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

�Bush was in a quandary. Bhutto was much tougher than Musharraf on Islamist extremists, but Bush had invested heavily in the general,� the Post observed.

Ms Bhutto was further disillusioned when President Musharraf imposed a state of emergency on Nov 3, but US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned and urged her to go along with that process in return for concessions from Mr Musharraf.

�Bhutto agreed, but she got nothing in return,� the Post noted.

The report said that the unsuccessful Oct. 18 attempt on Ms Bhutto�s life followed Islamabad�s rejection of her requested security protection when she returned from eight years in exile. The Pakistani government vetoed FBI assistance in investigating the attack.

On Oct 26, Ms Bhutto sent an email to Mark Siegel, her friend and Washington spokesman, to be made public only in the event of her death.

�I would hold Musharraf responsible,� Ms Bhutto said in the message. �I have been made to feel insecure by his minions.�

In early December, a former Pakistani government official supporting Ms Bhutto visited a senior US government official to renew her security requests.

�He got a brush off, a mindset reflected Dec 6 at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing,� the report said.Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, was asked to respond to fears by non-partisan American observers of a rigged election.

His reply: �I do think they can have a good election. They can have a credible election. They can have a transparent and a fair election. It�s not going to be a perfect election.� (we 'ave planned it to be like that!) I own up to the Italics.

�Boucher�s words echoed through corridors of power in Islamabad,� the Post noted.

�Neither her shooting on Thursday nor the attempt on her life Oct 18 bore the trademarks of Al Qaeda,� the report said, urging the US administration to send an FBI to probe the murder. (Yeah, for wiping out any traces or our finger prints left on the scene!)

That poor country needs a Chavez or some Avo Morales to put the amercans where they belong, in some circus tent, with their action packed El War on Terror show.

Sorry, is it spelt waar? in that part of the world.

I was not surprised to hear that Benazir wanted her son to take her place should she die. Nepotism immediately sprung to my mind. This was something she thought too when she was in office.

Why all these democratic parties when their flag bearers dies his/her immediate family members take the flag. That should be real family democratic process. 

Why all these democratic parties when their flag bearers dies his/her immediate family members take the flag. That should be real family democratic process. 

Democracy is a mere fig leaf for exceptionally naked regal aspirations, my brother.

Last fall, a friend from Pakistan and I were on chat. He sent me a link to a Bhutto speech. She was giving her speech in English. And as he pointed out, the people do not speak English, how are they to know what she is saying? Ad he felt the speech was for the US govt. Not the people of Pakistan.  Andeducation of the masses did not improve under her rule before.

People use this buzz word "democracy."  Yes  you can vote, but your dirt-poor, illiterate etc. The future of your children looks bleak. All of this "anti-terrorist" rhetoric and resources is a diversion from the real issues facing people.

Angela, on one level, I too can appreciate that she was a strong woman. On the other hand, I cannot but hope for more because she was a woman. I don't know if that makes sense?

I don't think I would enjoy it though.  If they would treat me half as bad as some of those I met have...I probably would go away with a bad view on a culture I thought prided itself on its hospitality. 

Actually you would probably be treated better there then 95% of places in the world. Having traveled alot, and knowing many travelers, Pakistanis are some of the most hospitable people on this planet.

Having spent months there on two visits, ironically the only place I felt unwelcome, and this is traveling all over, was in  a rich doctor's house. He had been educated in the west, lived in a huge house and had a Sweedish wife. Everywhere else was great.

The Pakistani people need a real reformation movement. 

Absolutely and they have been fighting for it for a long time. It�s now in the offing.

Like it or not, Benazir represented democracy in action.

She loved democracy, as long as it landed her in the Prime Minister�s house.

A Populist vote to determine the direction of the Government.

The Royal Family determined the direction of the Government exactly like the direction now of the party!

. . . allegations of her husband's briberies and the allegations she had her brother killed.

Why would her mother hold her responsible for her brother�s killing? Or, the Swiss Prosecutor register a money laundering case against �them�?

Yet, so many still supported her?  Why?

Possibly for the same reason as so many supported Adolph?

Initially, because she was a slain man�s daughter. How many would have supported her, this time, remains untested. The Made in America label had lost a sizeable chunk of her vote bank

Why would someone want to support/vote for a woman with such a shady past?  What was she offering that the other candidates do not?

Solely for her father�s name!

Do they want to move away from dictatorship? 

They have always been struggling against it

Would they rather stay as is?

Nope 

Do they want to join the "Western" economies?

A majority seems to find it a bit out of their taste

Would they rather stay out of international politics?

The pobres are nowhere in International politics, it�s just that the international politics or to be more precise, the International killing has taken over their lives.

Right now the Pakistanis have just one desire, they don�t want to be killed in the name of this War on Terror circus, with their man as its kingpin! They have had it up to here with the US running their country for her own agenda.

For most Pakistanis, its not this complicated.  Its about their paychecks, the roof over their heads the food on the table. If the people in power are not giving them what they need, they will look elsewhere.

There priorities are a bit different.

They believe that the bread bit doesn�t lie with any man, but with the Raziq (Bread Giver). They want their government to be free from any involvement with the killers of Iraqi and Afghan people.

I don't think putting a 19 year old in charge was smart.  It just painted a big target on her son's back.  He should be worrying about University right now, not some family legacy.  I was sorry to see that choice was made.

If you knew BB or her actual agenda, you won�t have expected anything else.

In the end though, who's really to blame for the situation in Pakistan.  The British?  Corrupt Pakistani Politicians?  The tolerance of the People. 

All of them + the US

This would be very simple if it were not for AQ Khan's work.  If not for the risk of a nuke getting into the wrong hands, I would say populist revolution would move things in the right direction. 

It�s just no more than American scare mongering � aimed at the home market, to justify their obsession with Musharref.

But, the size of certain groups would almost ensure long periods of bloodshed or just another dictator in the mix.

None of that sort at all. The US plan has misfired. People are not as na�ve as they are painted by the media. All of this will settle down if elections are not rigged and if Musharref is kicked out. He is the problem.

So, who is it that can make any change?

The country has some of the finest talented men and women. Things are moving faster than the western press would wish their world to know.

Well, I think you misunderstand what I mean by Peter the Great. 

Pakistan has Aitazaz the Great + a country full of Bar Associations.

So what that Bhutto had a western education? 

That�s the one and only thing that seems to appeal to the west and almost all the time she is waltzing to the western gallery. It just stinks and had lost a good chunk of her vote bank. Her loss might recover some of it.

Why is that bad?

That�s not bad in itself, her arrogance about it is.  

She went to Harvard and Cambridge (or was is Oxford?), both colleges I would have given a limb to attend, but I was too poor and/or too st**id. 

Well, we should let good things just rest. You wouldn�t have to give anything at all had your father been, say, the President even of Tuvalu Islands!

You would have been sitting next to her.

I'm not some neo-con toady who believes the western media.  Nor do I even remotely like my countries policies towards the rest of the world.  I want to return to the isolationist doctrines of pre-WWI.  The founding father's warned to stay out of international politics.

Angela, I recognise and respect your calibre and your mind.

Now, can a indecisive person hold power in Pakistan?  Answer me that.

Holding on the power, by all means, is a legacy of the country�s imperial past.

And, only the weak and the insecure hold power via abuse of the state apparatus.

I would rather skip ZAB,s sad childhood story, but I would just say that I have yet to come across a more insecure and psychologically disturbed man than him, anywhere.

People are people, they do respond to gentleness in a society that reveres her saints more than her kings. This lesson doesn�t mix with the leaders who have been planted on the unfortunate people of that country � always with some imperial design!

If you are not prepared to desperately hold onto power in that country, are you even remotely able to.

It�s a fallacy, promoted by the west, for justifying their puppets� abuses.

The situation is otherwise.

No...because there is always another Mushareff waiting in the wings.

The other Musharefs get a chance only with the incumbents� abuse of power.

The need a strong leader...strong does not mean dictator, but it does mean that the person has to be willing to fight and defend to keep their positions.

Yes, in a Costa Nostra family running a protection racket, leaders focus on winning hearts and minds of people through positive projects.

If an entire governmental system is corrupt, don't you have to know how to play the game. 

Weak, insecure and the incompetent imposed leaders corrupt the system, they have to make all the hay before their masters find their replacements.

Sasha is a jewel of a man.  Full of integrity, intelligence and drive.  But, honestly...how long would a man like him stay in power in Pakistan?

At least, for 107 days and then the Masters will find out that he is working for the people and he will be liquidated!

I would LOVE to visit Pakistan.  I don't think I would enjoy it though.  If they would treat me half as bad as some of those I met have...I probably would go away with a bad view on a culture I thought prided itself on its hospitality. 

Unfortunately the ones in the US don�t set the best example. They have left their country for greed and a horde of other plastic and out of taste reasons. The average Pakistani is one of the most beautiful persons I have ever met. He lives in his village and may not be able to read or write.

You will enjoy it more than you might think.

And, it would be an honour to have you as our (the Khaliqia Community�s and also mine) guest for as long as you wish to stay there.

I liked Benazir. 

I agree, she was very lucky in that aspect, anyone who didn�t know here, just loved her.

Then see a predominantly Muslim country elect a WOMAN as Prime Minister.

Does some credit also go to the people, of that Islamic country, for elected her as their first woman Prime Minister?

The same reason I still feel deeply about how good and wonderful Princess Diana was compared with the naughty behavior and scandals that followed her to her death.

It is a strange coincidence that I knew both the women you have mentioned, closely. Diana was the exact opposite of BB, the more you knew her the more you admired and respected her.

You never cease to inspire jealousy in me.  I would have loved to have met Diana.  Her AIDS work inspired so many. 
Not at all my fault, she just wanted to marry my Nephew-in-Chief (my sister's son) and visited us even at or Lahore residence. You must have heard of the Cardiac surgeon, Hasnaat Khan?

How do you know Benazir was an alcohol drinker?  Curious.
She didn't have much of a thirst, really.

We never met after her cousin's November 1985 party. She she was dating good old Derek (half Jamaican-half Irish not at all known TV actor). Like her brother, Shahnawaz, she preferred the "other" stuff.

Contrary to their claims, for mere political mileage out of his death, Shahnawaz was bent upon killing himself, with frequent overdosing.

But that's niether here nor there. The fact remains plain, honest, simple: IF SHE WEREN'T the single most dangerous person for los pobre 172 million Pakistanos the US won't have wished to plant her on them!

In my wake of over 40 years of global event watching, not just vis the newsmedia, but far more at the more active in depth level, I have yet to see ONE right person the US ever pushed on to the Muslim world.

In fact, they have mutilated, killed, finished off - not just in the physical sense alone - anyone ever they found to be positive. I have come to believe that it's Anglo-American agenda, to sow discontent, public unrest and civil wars in the Islamic countries. Now, it's Pakistan's turn.

Could anyone show me just one Muslim country that the US have touched in the past half century and it hasn't curdled into extremism or not blown in their faces?

Just one?

Duende wrote: Sawtul- : what nation's press did NOT praise her? Or are we to join your bandwagon berating and bashing Iran because of this?

I dont know I didnt watch the TV of all countries in the world and Im pretty sure you didnt either.

Whether or not other nations praised her, Iran claims to be "Islamic" and "anti-Zionist" and "anti-USA" and call USA "the great satan" and falsely accuse many many Muslims of being "agents of America".

But when it came to this woman who was obviously an agent, they praise her... hmmmm

Also interesting to note that this Real American agent (Bhutto) came from a Shia family and despite some claims that she had "converted" and become Sunni, she never practiced Sunni Islam and in fact there are pictures of her wearing a dress on which it says "Ya Ali" (something that Shia say and Sunnis dont).

Mrs Be Aql Khan Usta : To understand the science of racial politics i asked Mrs King
She said SUNNAH is to follow the male Prophets
Because the library of the divine revelation doesn't have any feminine wing
Therefore Mrs Bhutto is latest casualty of war of ancient Jung E Jamal
Because the deeds of Islamic Khalifath is written according to Mr King's AML

from SWEETSWORDS 114 [ Worth of WOMAN ]

Mrs Be Aql Khan Usta

Brother, I am almost rising in love with you. Can I have you as my Morshed-in-Chief? I lost mine months ago. They are very hard to come by.

I am sure you know what is a morshed? Even Qazi Nazar ul Islam (the most famous Bangladeshi poet) once wrote a poem for his morshed, I will write three for you.

Whisper wrote: Mrs Be Aql Khan Usta Brother, I am almost rising in love with you. Can I have you as my Morshed-in-Chief? I lost mine months ago. They are very hard to come by. I am sure you know what is a morshed? Even Qazi Nazar ul Islam (the most famous Bangladeshi poet) once wrote a poem for his morshed, I will write three for you.

Assalamualaikum

i am the nemesis of all murshid

i am the murderer of all sufi swines

we are brothers we  have the greatest master MUHAMMAD Sallel La Hu Alahi Wa Sallim

please read SWEETSWORDS [ Masters and Monsters ] i am posting as new thread

please forgive me if my words offend you but i have very dirty job to attend

poga wrote: i am the murderer of all sufi swines

A person must ask himself before saying anything: �Is there any need for me to talk?' If there is a need, then it is fine to talk. Otherwise, silence is better because refraining from unnecessary speech is a form of worship. Abdullaah Ibn Mas'ood Radhi-All�hu �anhu said: �I swear by the One besides Whom there is nothing worthy of worship: one's need to imprison their tongue is greater than anything else.�

 The tongue is a gift from Allah. This is certainly not why Allah has gifted us with tongues and this is definitely not how gifts are appreciated.

A person must ask himself before saying anything: �Is there any need for me to talk?' If there is a need, then it is fine to talk.

Brother that's what sets the difference between abuayisha and some other people!

REJECTED ALLEGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT PAQUISTAN�
The leader of Al Qaeda in Pakistan denies it is linked to the murder of Bhutto
When the whole world knows that the brain of the murder of Bhutto is the presindente Pervez Musharraf, murderer and lackey of the United States

REJECTED ALLEGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT PAQUISTAN�
The leader of Al Qaeda in Pakistan denies it is linked to the murder of Bhutto

Hundreds of people are manifested in Peshawar. (Photo: AFP)
Last Saturday 29/12/2007 14:24 (CET)
AGENCIES
PESHAWAR (PAKISTAN) .- Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani tribal leader allegedly linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, was not involved in the assassination of opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, said the spokesman for Mehsud.

"I am not involved in this attack. Lo flatly refuse. Tribes have their own customs and we do not attack women," said the spokesman for Mehsud, Maulvi Omar via telephone from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government had accused al-Qaeda on Friday with the murder of Bhutto, 54 years, spreading the recording of a telephone conversation intercepted by intelligence in which Mehsud allegedly congratulated the authors of the assassination.

"It's a conspiracy of the government, army and intelligence Pakistani," said the spokesman for Mehsud. Maulvi Omar, who had spoken earlier on behalf of Mehsud, ensured he called from Waziristan, the tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.
In this part of Pakistan, Washington guarantees that Al Qaeda and the Taliban Afghan forces reconstituted thanks to the support of local tribes fundamentalists, including the Mehsud. "It's the theater," said Mullah Omar (religious title) with respect to the transcript published on Friday by the Government on the telephone call from Mehsud one of the organizers of the attack.

The Mullah Omar also expressed his "sadness" in regard to the death of Bhutto, adding that it would have been "impossible" for the Islamist fighters to pass through the security cordon that cercaba the park where the former prime minister had just closed a rally election .

The rally was held to two weeks of the legislative and provincial elections for which his party (SPS) is the main opposition movement. Milita fiercely for the "eradication of Islamist threat" from Pakistan, in the words repeated several times by Bhutto. "Benazir was not only a leader in Pakistan but also a leader of international repute. Express our deep sorrow over his death," concluded Omar

THE GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLEDGES 38 DEAD IN DISTURBIOS
Pakistan offers from Bhutto exhume the body to make the autopsy
Islamabad insists that died of a stroke and his party in which he did by two shots
On Sunday, the son of Bhutto will read a posthumous message of the former prime minister
The province of Sindh is isolated from the rest of the country by violence

Followers of Bhutto are concentrated with a poster of the former agent. (Photo: AFP)
Last Saturday 29/12/2007 18:15 (CET)
AGENCIES
ISLAMABAD .- The Pakistani government has offered the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of Benazir Bhutto murdered exhumation of the body to make an autopsy, after the doubts expressed by this training on the official version of the cause of his death.
Javed Cheema, spokesman of the Interior Ministry, has assured that the Government has no problems in certifying the cause of death which, in any case, was due to the attack. "We are willing to exhume the body of Benazir Bhutto for an investigation if his party so desires," he declared at a press conference.

"But the most important thing is not to know what caused the death, if a bullet, explosion or something else, but how he died," he insisted, referring to the attack. In any case, Cheema returned to defend the cause of death was a fractured skull caused by a sharp blow with the handle of the sliding roof of the vehicle from which greeted his supporters at the time of the attack.

A version that since Bhutto's party have rushed to deny already qualify to be a "string of lies", and insisting that the former prime minister had two bullet wounds, one in the head and another in the abdomen. A controversy fuelled because, in the absence of an autopsy performed after death has not been determined exactly the cause of death.

The spokesman for Interior also stressed that the Government "not convenient" one version over the other, because what is truly important "discover who killed her." In that regard, he insisted suspicions that the attack was "involved" Baitula Taliban leader Mesud, the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, which the government links with Al Qaeda and who has refused, through a spokesman, his responsibility in the attack.

New outbreaks of violence

A man watches another died during the riots. (Photo: AFP)
The violence in the country, particularly in the south-eastern province of Sindh, fiefdom of Bhutto, has been a "serious setback" for the ongoing preparations for the elections on January 8. The Election Commission of Pakistan announced the convening of an emergency meeting next Monday to decide whether to retain the holding of the polls. The party of Bhutto will decide on Sunday whether boycotting, the same day that a message be known posthumously to the former prime minister.
The death toll since the murder, last Thursday, has now reached 38 people, as announced by the Interior Ministry, while the injured reach 53. The material damage by this wave of violence, according to the government, are millionaires, although the spokesman of the Interior, Javed Cheema, has described as "satisfactory" the overall security situation in the country.

"The criminals are taking advantage of the tense situation created by the death of Bhutto, according to the spokesman, who elaborated that 174 banks, 34 petrol stations, 765 shops and 72 railway wagons have been burned in the riots throughout the country.

Their numbers collide, however, shortly before those offered by the Ministry of Interior of the province of Sindh, which stood at 44 dead only in this region, and 13 banks, 27 gas stations and 600 vehicles burned in the southern city Karachi. The riots Sindh kept isolated from the rest of the country, with all railway lines cut, shops and gas stations closed and continued outbreaks of violence in the streets, according to Pakistani private television channels.

Although the army has been deployed throughout Sindh and the 'rangers' in major cities in the northwestern province of Punjab, Cheema said that the intervention of troops will be "the last resort" to maintain order. Shortly before, the country's president, Pervez Musharraf, had chaired a meeting with senior government officials and officials of the army and the security forces, who ordered act "firmly" to restore order.