AP Photo:Pakistani men push a food cart past closed shops and a poster of slain opposition...
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
KARACHI, Pakistan - Residents of Pakistan's largest city cautiously emerged from their homes Sunday and struggled to find food and fuel amid the blackened buildings, shattered glass and burnt-out vehicles littered across Karachi.
With police and troops patrolling, this southern city appeared quiet for the first time since Benazir Bhutto's assassination Thursday sparked a wave of angry rioting. READ MORE
NAUDERO, Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son — a student with no political experience — was named symbolic leader of her party Sunday, while her husband took effective control, extending Pakistan's most enduring political dynasty.
The major parties appeared to agree that the elections should take place as scheduled on Jan. 8 despite street violence and political turmoil triggered by the assassination of Bhutto. The Election Commission is to discuss the timing of the polls Monday.
A successful vote would bolster U.S.-backed plans to restore democracy to the nuclear-armed country as it battles rising Islamic extremism. READ MORE
Report has been taken from other news sources by Correspondent Nadeem
The assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has pitched Pakistan into a political freefall and raised fears that increasingly bitter divisions in the society are turning the country into another Iraq.
Shocked citizens blame the deepening turmoil on President Pervez Musharraf and his U.S.-backed crackdown on Islamic extremists. Overwhelmingly poor and more concerned with survival than anti-Western terrorism, most crave stability above all, and many believe things will only get better if Musharraf resigns.
"The government of Musharraf has created an Afghanistan and Iraq-like situation in our country," said Zaheer Ahmad, 47, who works at a private clinic in Multan. "I don't know who killed Benazir Bhutto. But I do know that it is the result of Musharraf's wrong and bad policies."
While many Pakistanis want him gone, there is no consensus on who could replace Musharraf — or whether anyone can unify the country's bickering political factions. - Continued on page 2 Othe Headlines
ALONG THE LARKANA-KARACHI HIGHWAY - Three days after Benazir Bhutto's killing, driving through her home province is a perilous experience. Charred vehicles, felled trees and rocks litter the highway, and nervous travelers paste her portrait to their cars to appease prowling mobs.
"Long live Bhutto!" one motorist shouted to a gang armed with stones and pieces of wood manning a roadblock.
After a brief discussion, he was allowed to continue on his way.
Bhutto's killing in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Thursday plunged Pakistan deeper into political crisis and triggered an orgy of violence that has killed more than 40 people and left hundreds of banks, shops, gasoline stations, railway stations and offices torched.
Sindh, an agricultural region in the south of the country where Bhutto grew up, has seen the worst of the unrest.
An Associated Press reporter who took the 280-mile highway that connects Larkana, Bhutto's hometown, and Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, on Saturday saw just a dozen cars and one truck traveling on it. Scores of smoldering vehicles lay beside the road.
In one attack near Larkana, unidentified assailants opened fire on a motorcade of Bhutto's supporters as they headed back to Karachi after her funeral, killing one man and wounding two others, said Waqar Mehdi, a spokesman for Bhutto's party.
Along the normally bustling highway, hundreds of truckers with loads of coal, rice and sand were stranded at small motels or by the roadside, too scared to continue their journey. Long lines formed at the few gasoline stations bold enough to open. READ MORE
Bhutto's Jihadist Enemies TIME - Pakistani police guard six members of the Sunni Muslim extremist group Lashkar_i_Jhangvi arrested in Multan, Pakistan in 2006. Benazir Bhutto had long been an outspoken critic of Pakistani militants and this made her the mortal enemy of a galaxy of ...
By Zeeshan Haider ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Benazir Bhutto's party was due to discuss a successor to the slain Pakistani opposition leader on Sunday and decide whether to contest an election due in little over a week.
Bilawal Bhutto, 19-year-old son of Benazir Bhutto, and Asif Zardari, Bhutto's deceased husband stand over the grave of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto after her burial inside the family mausoleum on the family estate, one day after her ...
Asif Ali Zardari (C) husband of former premier Benazir Bhutto scatters rose petals on the grave of his wife at Ghari Khuda Baksh, 28 December 2007. Hundreds of thousands of people let out a huge roar as the former Pakistan premier's body arrived at the family mausoleum in the village of Ghari Khuda Baksh in the southern province of Sindh. AFP PHOTO/Asif HASSAN
ISLAMABAD: Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Online quoted Adnkronos International (AKI) news agency as reporting. “We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat (the) mujahadeen,” AKI quoted Al Qaeda commander and main spokesman Mustafa Abu Al Yazid as saying.
According to AKI, Al Yazid is the main Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan. “It is believed that the decision to kill Benazir...was made by Al Qaeda No 2, the Egyptian doctor, Ayman Al Zawahiri in October,” AKI said. “...one cell comprising a defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s Punjabi volunteer succeeded in killing Benazir,” it added.
Meanwhile, the FBI and US Homeland Security departments on Friday claimed that Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri masterminded the assassination of the PPP chairwoman, Geo news reported. Agencies: Daily Times Monitor
Benazir Bhutto was not killed by Bullet or Bombshell but by Other Source...
... says General Hospital Senior Doctor.
By: Nadeem, Correspondent CCNews.org, 29-12-07
The Senior Doctor told media that there was no sign of bullet or bomb shell in her head, but the 5 inch long wound which happened through other material. Doctor also told that I was forbidden by the police not to postmortem of her Body.
On the other hand PPP has urged Government to call International Investigator to investigate What actually happened as her death has become suspicious. Al-Quaida Leader has also condemned that they are not involve in this assassination. (Remember that Al-Quieda leader have not fear to admit any murder that they do).
As Benazir Bhutto's body was laid to rest, violence and looting broke out across Pakistan, challenging President Pervez Musharraf's control over the nation.
People light candles to offer tribute to assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Hyderabad, India, Friday, Dec. 28,2007.
Christians Lament Bhutto's 'Tragic' Death Christian leaders expressed sadness at the news of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and worry about its effect on democracy and stability in the politically tumultuous country.
“The murder of [the] former Prime Minister is one of the most tragic events in the history of Pakistan,” said the Rev. Johan Candelin, executive director of World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Religious Liberty Commission.
“After working together with Mrs. Bhutto for democracy for several years I can say that her importance for democracy and human rights in Pakistan can never be underestimated.” READ MORE
Benazir Bhutto waves to supporters after an election rally in Rawalpindi December 27, 2007, shortly before she was killed in a gun and bomb FULL STORY
The body of Benazir Bhutto reaches Larkana for burial in family graveyard..
ISLAMABAD: December 27, 2007. (Reuters) - The body of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was taken to her family village for burial on Friday, a day after she was assinated. Read More
Benazir Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, on their wedding day, at Clifton Palace, Karachi, Pakistan, December 1987.
By Faisal Aziz
GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest next to her father in the family mausoleum on Friday after the opposition leader's assassination plunged Pakistan into crisis and triggered violent protests across her native Sindh province.
Tens of thousands of mourners wept and beat their heads as Bhutto, killed by a suicide attacker at an election rally on Thursday, was carried from her ancestral home in Sindh, in the south of the country, to the domed mausoleum.
The death of the 54-year-old Bhutto stoked fears that a January 8 election meant to return Pakistan to civilian rule could be put off amid a backlash that threatened to engulf the embattled President Pervez Musharraf.
Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, wept as he accompanied the closed coffin, draped with the green, red and black tricolor of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, on the 7-km journey to the tomb in the dusty village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. READ MORE
Chairperson of Pakistan People's Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has been laid to rest in her ancestral graveyard at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Larkana. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was buried beside the grave of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Thousands of people attended the Namaz-E-Janaza led by imam of Garhi Khuda Baksh mosque Professor Mufti Abdul Rahim. They included her husband Asif Ali Zardari, her son Bilawal Zaardari, leaders of the People's Party and a large number of Peoples Party workers from the four provinces and Azad Kashmir. Asif Zardari, along with children Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa had arrived late last night from Dubai and escorted their mother's body to Larkana. Benazir Bhutto's sister Sanam and other family members paid their last respects before the funeral was moved out from the Naudero house. READ MORE ~ may peace come to Pakistan ...
Pakistan Undergoes Year of Turmoil Voice of America - By Ayaz Gul - The death of one of the most liberal figures in Pakistani politics ends a turbulent year for one of the US' staunchest allies in the war on terrorism.
Bhutto Is Buried as Pakistan Reels New York Times - An ambulance carried the body of Benazir Bhutto during her funeral procession in Garhi Khuda Baksh. More Photos > By SALMAN MASOOD and VICTORIA BURNETT ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The body of Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in her ancestral village, ...
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a severe, and potentially crippling, blow to international hopes that Pakistan might emerge into a state of stability.
The risks of Pakistan imploding have once again increased.
It is a further setback for the US "War on Terror", which has as part of its strategy in the region the restoration of democracy in Pakistan to offer an alternative path, away from militancy and extremism.
The strategy is very much at risk.
Benazir Bhutto's death came less than two weeks before elections scheduled for 8 January.
The ability of militants to wreak havoc with their ruthless tactics is once again demonstrated
Her decision to carry on with campaigning despite a double suicide bomb attack on her convoy immediately after her return to Pakistan on 18 October was undoubtedly brave.
However, it underestimated the determination of those out to kill her.
She herself blamed Islamic extremists for the first attack.
The ability of such militants to wreak havoc with their ruthless tactics is once again demonstrated. READ MORE
By MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday, throwing the nuclear-armed US ally into crisis and raising the specter of deeper instability in an already volatile ...
Benazir Bhutto Assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack
CBNNews.com - 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.
SHERPAO, Pakistan - A suicide attacker detonated a bomb packed with ball bearings and nails amid hundreds of holiday worshippers Friday at the residential compound of Pakistan's former interior minister, killing at least 50 people and wounding over 100, authorities said.
It was the second suicide attack in eight months to apparently target Aftab Khan Sherpao, who is running in upcoming parliamentary elections. But although election-related violence is common in Pakistan, suspicion over the bombing will likely focus on the pro-Taliban or al-Qaida militants active in the northwestern region of the country where the attack occurred.
The attack, which came during the Islamic holy day of Eid al-Adha, created a scene of carnage at the mosque at the politician's compound in Sherpao, a village 25 miles northeast of the city of Peshawar. Read More
Lahore High Court registrar served contempt notice Karachi News.Net A judiciary official in Pakistan has been served contempt notice for asking a high court judge to vacate his official residence after he refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.
Plainclothes policemen in rallies banned ..... Pak Tribune During the meeting, the commission asked the Provincial Police Officers. Inspectors General of Police to issue directions to District Police Officers/ SSPs that no policemen in plain clothes be...
Benazir Bhutto will stand in Pakistan elections Karachi News.Net Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has launched her campaign for the general elections, and said her Pakistan People's Party would participate in it with full enthusiasm. MORE
AP Photo: Pakistani men push a food cart past closed shops and a poster of slain opposition...
