Benazir assassinated; sparks violence in Pak
Agencies
Islamabad, Dec 27 Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, an iconic symbol of Pakistan, was assassinated in nearby Rawalpindi today moments after a suicide bomber blew up at an election rally killing 30 people and a gunman fired at her, hitting her in the neck and head.
In a brazen terror attack that stunned the world and plunged Pakistan in turmoil, Benazir, who returned to her country only two months ago after eight years in exile, was declared dead at the Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was rushed badly bleeding, leaders of her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said.
The meticulously planned killing plunged Pakistan into sorrow and anger. Street violence erupted all over the country, the people’s fury over the death of the 54-year-old politician directed at the Pakistan President, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and his military.
PPP leaders, who broke down when they were told about her death and began to smash and break the doors and windows of the hospital, said the two-time prime minister breathed her last at 6.16 p.m.
“She has been martyred,” said a weeping party official, Mr Rehman Malik. Benazir leaves behind her husband, Mr Asif Zardari and three children.
The scene at the election rally presented a gory site, with dismembered bodies strewn at an open ground at Liaqat Bagh area of Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjoining Islamabad. Ambulances Benazir assassinated...
with screaming sirens rushed the badly wounded and the dying to hospitals.
Even two hours after the gory outburst of violence, there were conflicting versions as to how exactly Benazir died. Some party members insisted that it was the suicide bomber who claimed her life.
But a sobbing PPP information secretary, Mr Farhatullah Babar, who was at the same rally, told IANS that as Benazir climbed down from the stage after addressing the rally and boarded her bullet proof jeep, there were two massive blasts some 100 metre away, killing up to 30 people.
On hearing the explosions, a worried Benazir came out of the vehicle to see what had happened when someone fired several shots from a nearby building, two of the bullets hitting her in the neck and head.
Her close associates, political secretary, Mr Naheed Khan and information secretary, Mr Sherry Rehman, were in critical condition.
The news stunned Pakistan, a country reeling under waves of terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic radicals. Tens of thousands of furious Pakistanis took to the streets in all major cities, attacking and burning government vehicles and gas stations and blockading roads with burning tires.
Shopkeepers all across the country hurried downed their shutters.
Her arch opponent, former prime minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, rushed to the Rawalpindi hospital and broke down.
“It is a sad day in the history of Pakistan ... this is all because of the one dictator and he will be held accountable,” a weeping Mr Sharif told journalists, referring to Gen Musharraf.
Later, Mr Sharif today announced that his PML-N party would boycott Pakistan’s upcoming general elections in the wake of the assassination and demanded that the President, Gen Musharraf resign.
Accusing Gen Musharraf of being responsible for the political crisis and other problems confronting the country, Mr Sharif said free and fair polls could not be held under his rule.
Crowds at the Rawalpindi hospital shouted: “Dog, Musharraf, dog!”
As news of the killing spread, violence broke out in all major cities including Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi as people vent their anger at government vehicles and buildings.
All markets in major towns immediately closed, and people were seen rushing home from the streets.
In Rawalpindi, mobs burnt several government vehicles and blocked roads. Tens of thousands gathered outside the Rawalpindi General Hospital where her body was kept after the murder.
Many beat their chests to express grief. Others broke windowpanes of the hospital, waylaid and burnt vehicles on the roads outside the hospital and also uprooted hoardings of political parties allied to Gen Musharraf.
In Sindh, the Bhutto family’s home province, houses of politicians opposed to the PPP came under attack.
For the first time in history, PPP workers blocked the main Faisal Avenue leading to Islamabad. Hundreds walked towards Islamabad chanting slogans against Gen Musharraf.
Reports from Karachi said that two petrol pumps and several vehicles were set on fire.
In Lahore, hundreds of thousands of PPP supporters gathered at the Mall Road and burnt more than 20 vehicles.
Friday, 28 December 2007
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