By SADAQAT JAN and ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writers

 

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

 

The death of the 54-year-old charismatic 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.

 

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.

 

At least 20 others were killed in the attack.

 

Bhutto was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergency surgery.

"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.

 

No one claimed responsibility for the attack. But some of Bhutto's supporters at the hospital began chanting, "Killer, Killer, Musharraf," referring to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Bhutto's main political opponent. A few began stoning cars outside.

 

"We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paid no heed to our requests," Malik said.

 

Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and opposition leader, arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Bhutto's body.

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 parliamentary 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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

Party supporter Chaudry Mohammed Nazir said two gunshots rang out when Bhutto's vehicle pulled into the main street. Then there was a big blast next to her car.

 

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.

Bhutto's Death Poses Dilemma for US

 

Thursday December 27, 2007 2:46 PM

 

By MATTHEW LEE

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration scrambled Thursday with the implications of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination after having invested significant diplomatic capital in promoting reconciliation between her and President Pervez Musharraf to stabilize its key nuclear armed, anti-terrorism ally.

While awaiting formal confirmation of Bhutto's death in an attack on an election rally in Rawalpindi, U.S. officials huddled to assess the impact of Bhutto's passing just two weeks before legislative elections in the turbulent nation in which her party was expected to do well.

``Certainly, we condemn the attack on this rally,'' said deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey. ``It demonstrates that there are still those in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance democracy.''

At least 20 others were killed in the blast that took place as Bhutto left a political rally where she addressed thousands of supporters in her campaign for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

Bhutto's lawyer Babar Awan said, ``The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred.'' A party security adviser said that Bhutto was shot in neck and chest as she got into her vehicle to leave the rally in Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. A gunman then blew himself up.

U.S. intelligence officials were mobilized on the reports, but the CIA would not immediately offer confirmation of Bhutto's assassination. ``We're still looking into it, to make sure we have all the facts,'' said CIA spokeswoman Michele Ness.

In Crawford, Texas, where President Bush is vacationing, there was no immediate comment, although a statement was planned.

Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile Oct. 18. Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.

 

The United States had been at the forefront of foreign powers trying to arrange reconciliation between Bhutto and Musharraf, who under heavy U.S. pressure resigned as army chief and earlier this month lifted a state of emergency, in the hope it would put Pakistan back on the road to democracy.

 

Bhutto's return to the country after years in exile and the ability of her party to contest free and fair elections had been a cornerstone of Bush's policy in Pakistan, where U.S. officials had watched Musharraf's growing authoritarianism with increasing unease.

 

Those concerns were compounded by the rising threat from al-Qaida and Taliban extremists, particularly in Pakistan's largely ungoverned tribal areas bordering Afghanistan despite the fact that Washington had pumped nearly $10 billion in aid into the country since Musharraf became an indispensible counter-terrorism ally after Sept. 11, 2001.

 

Irritated by the situation, Congress last week imposed new restrictions on U.S. assistance to Pakistan, including tying $50 million in military aid to State Department assurances that the country is making ``concerted efforts'' to prevent terrorists from operating inside its borders.

 

Under the law, which provides a total of $300 million in aid to Pakistan and was signed by President Bush on Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also must guarantee Pakistan is implementing democratic reforms, including releasing political prisoners and restoring an independent judiciary.

 

The law also prevents any of the funds can be used for cash transfer assistance to Pakistan, but that stipulation had already been adopted by the administration.

Despite the congressional move, Richard Boucher, the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs who had been instrumental in engineering the Bhutto-Musharraf reconciliation, said he had little doubt that the administration would get the money.

Benazir Bhutto killed in attack

 

Benazir Bhutto had been addressing rallies in many parts of Pakistan

 

 

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suicide attack.

 

 

Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when she was shot in the neck by a gunman who then reportedly set off a bomb.

 

At least 15 other people died in the attack and several more were injured.

President Pervez Musharraf and his government called on people to remain calm so that the "nefarious designs of terrorists can be defeated."

 

Ms Bhutto had twice been the country's prime minister and had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

 

Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister and a political rival, told the BBC her death was a tragedy for "the entire nation".

 

"I can't tell you what the feelings of the people of Pakistan are today," he told BBC News 24 after returning from the hospital where she was brought. It was the second suicide attack against Benazir Bhutto in recent months and comes amid a wave of bombings targeting security and government officials.

 

 

 

Ms Bhutto's death has plunged her party into confusion and raised questions about whether January elections will go ahead as planned, the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says.

 

The PPP has the largest support of any party in the country.

Analysts note that Rawalpindi, the nerve centre of Pakistan's military, is seen as one of the country's most secure cities, making the attack even more embarrassing for the government of Gen Musharraf.

 

 

 

Scene of grief

 

 

The explosion occurred close to an entrance gate of the park in Rawalpindi where Ms Bhutto had been speaking.

 

 

Wasif Ali Khan, a member of the PPP who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital, said she died at 1816 (1316 GMT).

 

Supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog", the Associated Press (AP) reports.

 

Some supporters wept while others exploded in anger, throwing stones at cars and breaking windows.

 

Police confirmed reports Ms Bhutto had been shot in the neck and chest before the gunman blew himself up.

 

Mr Sharif said there had been a "serious lapse in security" by the government. Earlier on Thursday, at least four people were killed ahead of an election rally he himself had been preparing to attend close to Rawalpindi.

 

People were distraught at the scene of the blast

 

 

Return from exile

 

The killing was condemned by the US, the UK, Russia and France.

 

The attack shows that there are still those in Pakistan trying to undermine reconciliation and democratic development in Pakistan," a US state department official said.

 

 

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was "deeply shocked" by Ms Bhutto's death and called for "restraint but also unity".

 

"Extremist groups... cannot and must not succeed," he added.

 

Russia called on Pakistan's leaders to ensure stability while France spoke of an "odious" act and said it was deeply concerned.

 

Ms Bhutto returned from self-imposed exile in October after years out of Pakistan where she had faced corruption charges.

 

Her return was the result of a power-sharing agreement with President Musharraf in which he granted an amnesty that covered the court cases she was facing.

 

Since her return relations with Mr Musharraf had broken down. On the day of her return she led a motor cavalcade through the city of Karachi. It was hit by a double suicide attack that left some 130 dead.

Sadly, this event was only a matter of time.

 

Lamb to the slaughter.

Sadly, this event was only a matter of time.

 

Lamb to the slaughter.

 

Yes unfortunately it was.

Sad, sad day.

i saw it on cnn, it was really sad.....

his dad named Ali Bhutto isn't it?

That's very upsetting. She was my mum's hero. I heard it on the radio and when I told mum she nearly fell over with shock...

 

Sad sad day in history....

Bhutto actually told David Frost that Omar Sheikh had killed Bin Laden....(which is going to get you killed when you become really popular)

 

In this interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO8B6fpFSQ with Sir David Frost on Al Jazeera TV, Benazir Bhutto reveals (or claims) that Omar Sheik, the former MI6 agent now in a Pakistani prison appealing his sentence after being found guilty of killing Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl, killed Osama bin Laden. She makes the revelation in an off-hand remark at about 6m12s and thereafter into the interview.

 

Sheikh, according to Wikipedia:

"was arrested and served time in prison for the 1994 abduction of several British nationals in India, an act which he acknowledges, he was released from captivity in 1999 and provided safe passage into Pakistan, apparently with the support of Pakistan and the Taleban (the hijackers were Pakistanis) in an Indian Airlines plane hijacking. He is most well-known for his alleged role in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Sheikh Omar Saeed was arrested by Pakistani police on February 12, 2002, in Lahore, in conjunction with the Pearl kidnapping, and was sentenced to death on July 15, 2002 for killing Pearl. His judicial appeal has not yet been heard. The delay has been alleged to be due to his reported links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

 

Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, in his book In the Line of Fire stated that Sheikh was originally recruited by British intelligence agency, MI6, while studying at the London School of Economics. He alleges Omar Sheikh was sent to the Balkans by MI6 to engage in jihadi operations. Musharraf later went on to state "At some point, he probably became a rogue or double agent".

 

On October 6, 2001, a senior-level U.S. government official told CNN that U.S. investigators had discovered Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh (Sheik Syed), using the alias "Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad" had sent about $100,000 from the United Arab Emirates to Mohammed Atta. "Investigators said Atta then distributed the funds to conspirators in Florida in the weeks before the deadliest acts of terrorism on U.S. soil that destroyed the World Trade Center, heavily damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. In addition, sources have said Atta sent thousands of dollars -- believed to be excess funds from the operation -- back to Saeed in the United Arab Emirates in the days before September 11. CNN later confirmed this."

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

 

So did Bhutto sign her own death warrant for making public on November 2 this year that Bin Laden was not only dead (thereby exposing the CIA-orchestrated conspiracy behind all the phony Osama videos) but also killed by the same former MI6/SIS agent who had, on the orders of former ISI director-general Lt-Gen Mahmud Ahmad, wired $100,000 to Mohammed Atta a short time before 9/11 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1454238160.cms) and who is currently in a Pakistani prison? Was she killed by the ISI in order that she would not reveal further the involvement of Pakistan (=ISI=CIA) in terror attacks? Was she a loose cannon who could expose the truth - or at least Pakistan's involvement in it? Careless talk costs lives - in this case her own, perhaps?

Then look at this... http://in.news.yahoo.com/071019/139/6m5uk.html

"

 

The rabbit hole deepens...... Bhutto fingered Bin Laden's executor as Omar Sheikh, who had given himself up to Shah, who was in charge of her security at the time she was killed and who had been Osama bin Laden's handler. Hmm! I guess Shah (amongst others) was feeling the icy cold breeze of being exposed and arrested if Bhutto became Prime Minister.

 

"

oh no she represented all the women there who can't get the power

she was the only one to ahead men and she erased all the stereotypes about women in Pakistan

 

rahmatou allah 3eleihè ( God bless her)

Didn't really know much about her or what she did but R.I.P.

at least i ever saw on cnn.com that the last word the she said before she died was "Allah". it means God for Muslims people.