Musharraf Blames Bhutto For Her Own Death

From CNN

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination was her own fault, the country's president, Pervez Musharraf, said in an interview on U.S. television.

Bhutto sits on stage at a campaign rally minutes before her assassination.

"For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone -- nobody else. Responsibility is hers," the former general told CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday.

Bhutto was killed December 27 in Rawalpindi, south of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, while she was standing in an armored moving car after rallying supporters for now-postponed parliamentary elections. Her head was above the roof and unprotected at the time of the attack.

The cause of her death is not clear: a bomber blew himself up near Bhutto's limousine and videotape showed a gunman present, though no autopsy has been carried out.

Asked if Bhutto could have been shot, Musharraf said, "Yes, absolutely, yes. Possibility." He has said he welcomes an international investigation

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What's the Candidates Pakistanding?

On the reaction to the assassination of Benizar Bhutto, how did the candidate's stake up?

From the Washington Post

Some presidential candidates show they can respond quickly to a foreign policy crisis. Some flunk or foul.

THE ASSASSINATION of Benazir Bhutto presented U.S. presidential candidates with a test: Could they respond cogently and clearly to a sudden foreign policy crisis? Within hours some revealing results were in. One candidate, Democrat John Edwards, passed with flying colors. Another, Republican Mike Huckabee, flunked abysmally. Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain were serious and substantive; Republicans Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani were thin. And Barack Obama -- the Democratic candidate who claims to represent a new, more elevated brand of politics -- committed an ugly foul.

Let's start with Mr. Edwards, who managed not only to get Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the phone Thursday but also to deliver a strong message. The candidate said he had encouraged Mr. Musharraf "to continue on the path to democratization [and] to allow international investigators to come in and determine what happened, what the facts were." Those are words the Pakistani president needs to hear from as many Americans as possible. He has yet to confirm that the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections will go forward and risks a destabilizing backlash against his own government unless he delivers a full and credible account of the authors and circumstances of Ms. Bhutto's killing.

Ms. Clinton and Mr. McCain also endorsed Pakistan's continued democratization. Each cited an acquaintance with Ms. Bhutto or Mr. Musharraf and opportunistically trumpeted their foreign policy experience -- but both also offered some cogent analysis. Ms. Clinton rightly cited "the failure of the Musharraf regime either to deal with terrorism or to build democracy," adding that "it's time that the United States sided with civil society in Pakistan."

At the other extreme was Mr. Huckabee, whose first statement seemed merely uninformed: He appeared not to know that Mr. Musharraf had ended "martial law" two weeks ago. That was better than the candidate's next effort, when he said an appropriate U.S. response would include "very clear monitoring of our borders . . . to make sure if there's any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into our country." The cynicism of this attempt to connect Pakistan's crisis with anti-immigrant sentiment was compounded by its astonishing senselessness.

By comparison, the Giuliani and Romney statements were anodyne -- they deployed slogans about fighting terrorism or "jihadism" while avoiding serious comment about Pakistan. Mr. Obama similarly began by offering bland condolences to Pakistanis and noting that "I've been saying for some time that we've got a very big problem there."

Then Mr. Obama committed his foul -- a far-fetched attempt to connect the killing of Ms. Bhutto with Ms. Clinton's vote on the war in Iraq. After the candidate made the debatable assertion that the Iraq invasion strengthened al-Qaeda in Pakistan, his spokesman, David Axelrod, said Ms. Clinton "was a strong supporter of the war in Iraq, which we would submit was one of the reasons why we were diverted from Afghanistan, Pakistan and al-Qaeda, who may have been players in the event today."

When questioned later about his spokesman's remarks, Mr. Obama stiffly defended them -- while still failing to offer any substantive response to the ongoing crisis. Is this Mr. Obama's way of rejecting "the same Washington game" he lambasted earlier in the day? If so, his game doesn't look very new, or attractive.

Al Qaeda or the Taleban: What's the Real Story?

With Benazir Bhutto out of the picture, there is speculation as to who could be responsible.

According to Reuters:

Pakistan has "intelligence intercepts" indicating that al Qaeda was behind the killing of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

Former prime minister Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on Thursday, plunging nuclear-armed Pakistan into one of the most serious crises in its 60-year history.

"We have intelligence intercepts indicating that al Qaeda leader Baitullah Mehsud is behind her assassination," ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told a news conference.

On the other hand, according to CNN:

U.S. officials suspect a Taliban leader from Afghanistan may be behind the plot to assassinate former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a senior official said Friday.

The official identified Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud as a leading suspect, saying there's "good information that leads us to believe he is the guy responsible."

What is clear is that both governments are using this unfortunate event to remind us that the War on Terrorism is necessary. What they don't tell us is what is more troubling. What was the role of the Musharraf government in protecting Bhutto? What was the role of the US? Both had a vested interest in her protection given the recent state of emergency in Pakistan called by Musharraf.

Musharraf Opponent Bhutto Killed

As if things in Pakistan weren't bumpy enough, Benazir Bhutto's assasination is likely to complicate an already ticking time bomb between President Pervez Musharraf and the PPP party which Bhutto led.

From the BBC

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

News of her death was confirmed by a military spokesman and members of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when gunfire and an explosion occurred.

At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack and several more were injured. Ms Bhutto had twice been the country's prime minister.

She had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

The BBC's Barbara Plett says the killing is likely to provoke an agonised response from her followers, especially from her loyal following in Sindh Province.

Ms Bhutto was key to her party, she was the focus of her party and she was a major political player amongst all those fighting for seats in the forthcoming elections, our correspondent adds.

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

Analysts note that Rawalpindi, a garrison city, is seen as one of the country's most secure cities, making the attack even more embarrassing for the military authorities.

Benazir Bhutto In the House--And Perhaps Not By Choice

Updated from Reuters :

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was freed from house arrest late on Friday, hours after she was stopped from leaving her Islamabad home to lead a rally against the president's imposition of emergency rule.

"The detention order has been withdrawn," said Aamir Ali Ahmed, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad.

Earlier in the day police prevented Bhutto from leaving her home and sealed off the capital and the nearby city of Rawalpindi to stop a rally against President Pervez Musharraf.
Bhutto, the politician most capable of galvanizing mass protests against Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule, appealed to police to let her through their cordon.

"The government has been paralyzed," Bhutto shouted to supporters across a barbed-wire barricade.

"If he restores the constitution, takes off his uniform, gives up the office of the chief of army staff and announces an election by January 15, then it's okay," she said, vowing defiance if Musharraf did not comply.


From the Australian Broadcasting Company

Pakistan's main opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house arrest, according to Government officials.

The house arrest comes just hours before the former prime minister Ms Bhutto was due to lead a mass rally.

Ms Bhutto and her supporters had planned the rally against the emergency rule imposed by President Pervez Musharraf earlier this week.

Pakistani police cordoned off her home and sealed off a park in Rawlapindi where the really was due to be hold.

A senior official in Islamabad said police had cordoned off Bhutto's home in the city but only for her protection.

"It has been done purely for security reasons. There are no restrictions on her movement," said the official, who declined to be identified.

A Bhutto party spokeswoman, Sherry Rehman, said Ms Bhutto was not under house arrest but police had surrounded her home.