By SADAQAT JAN and ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writers
8 minutes ago
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto
was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack at a campaign rally
that also killed at least 20 others, aides said.
Bhutto's supporters erupted in anger and grief after her death,
attacking police and burning tires and election campaign posters in
several cities. At the hospital where she died, some smashed glass
and wailed, chanting slogans against President Pervez
Musharraf.
The death of the charismatic 54-year-old former prime minister
threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into
chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the
nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on
terrorism.
Musharraf condemned the attack and urged calm, according to the
state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. He also convened an
emergency meeting with his senior staff, where they were expected
to discuss whether to postpone the elections, an official at the
Interior Ministry said, speaking on condition of anonymity because
of the sensitivity of the talks.
No one claimed responsibility for the killing but suspicion was
almost certain to fall on Islamic militants.
The attacker struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed 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.
Sardar Qamar Hayyat, a leader from Bhutto's party, said he was
standing about 10 yard away from Benazir Bhutto's vehicle at the
time of the attack.
"She was inside the vehicle and was coming out from the gate after
addressing the rally when some of the youths started chanting
slogans in her favor. Then I saw a smiling Bhutto emerging from the
vehicle's roof and responding to their slogans," he said.
"Then I saw a thin, young man jumping toward her vehicle from the
back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speeding vehicle
going away," he added.
Bhutto was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergency surgery.
She died about an hour after the attack.
"At 6:16 p.m., she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of
Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital.
"The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred," Bhutto's
lawyer Babar Awan said.
Bhutto's supporters at the hospital exploded in anger, smashing the
glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit. Others burst
into tears. One man with a flag of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party
tied around his head was beating his chest.
"I saw her with my own eyes sitting in a vehicle after addressing
the rally. Then, I heard an explosion," Tahir Mahmood, 55, said
sobbing. "I am in shock. I cannot believe that she is dead."
Many chanted slogans against Musharraf, accusing him of complicity
in her killing.
"We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper
security and appropriate equipment ... but they paid no heed to our
requests," Malik said.
As news of her death spread, angry supporters took to the streets
in the northwestern city of Peshawar as well other areas, chanting
slogans against Musharraf. In Rawalpindi, Bhutto's supporters
burned election posters from the ruling party and attacked police,
who fled the scene.
In Karachi, shop owners quickly closed their businesses as
supporters from Bhutto's party burned tires on the roads.
Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and opposition leader, arrived
at the hospital and sat silently next to Bhutto's body.
"Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you to take
the revenge for her death," he said. "Don't feel alone. I am with
you. We will take the revenge on the rulers."
Speaking to the BBC, Sharif also questioned whether to hold the
elections.
"I think perhaps none of us is inclined to think of the elections,"
he said. "We would have to sit down and take a very serious look at
the current situation together with the People's Party and see what
we have to do in the coming days."
Hours earlier, four people were killed at a rally for Sharif when
his supporters clashed with backers of Musharraf near
Rawalpindi.
Bhutto's death will leave a void at the top of her party, the
largest political group in the country, as it heads into the
elections. It also fueled fears that the crucial vote could descend
into violence.
Pakistan is considered a vital U.S. ally in the fight against
al-Qaida and other Islamic extremists including the Taliban. Osama
bin Laden and his inner circle are believed to be hiding in lawless
northwest Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan.
In Washington, the State Department condemned the attack.
"It demonstrates that there are still those in Pakistan who want to
subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance democracy," deputy
spokesman Tom Casey said.
The United States has for months been encouraging Musharraf to
reach an accommodation with the opposition, particularly Bhutto,
who was seen as having a wide base of support in Pakistan. Her
party had been widely expected to do well in next month's
elections.
Pakistan was just emerging from another crisis after Musharraf
declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, and used sweeping powers
to round up thousands of his opponents and fire Supreme Court
justices. He ended emergency rule Dec. 15 and subsequently
relinquished his role as army chief, a key opposition demand.
Bhutto had been an outspoken critic of Musharraf's imposition of
emergency rule.
Educated at Harvard and Oxford universities, Bhutto served twice as
Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. Her father, who
also served as prime minister, was executed in 1979 two years after
his ouster in a military coup.
Bhutto had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile on Oct.
18. On the same day, she narrowly escaped injury when her
homecoming parade in Karachi was targeted in a suicide attack that
killed more than 140 people.
Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida and the Taliban hated Bhutto
for her close ties to the Americans and support for the war on
terrorism. A local Taliban leader reportedly threatened to greet
Bhutto's return to the country with suicide bombings.
At the scene of Thursday's bombing, an Associated Press reporter
saw body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat
Bagh park, where Bhutto had spoken. He counted about 20 bodies,
including police, and could see many other wounded people.
Police cordoned off the street with white and red tape, and
rescuers rushed to put victims in ambulances as people wailed
nearby.
The clothing of some victims was shredded and people put party
flags over their bodies. Police caps and shoes littered the
asphalt.
Hundreds of riot police had manned security checkpoints around the
venue. It was Bhutto's first public meeting in Rawalpindi since she
came back to the country.
In November, Bhutto had also planned a rally in the city, but
Musharraf forced her to cancel it, citing security fears.
In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security
forces in Rawalpindi, where Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army
has its headquarters.