Death of Bhutto causes confusion
Max Edmands
Issue date: 1/14/08 Section: News
Benazir Bhutto, two-time prime minister of Pakistan, was killed in a combined shooting and bombing attack at a rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday, December 27, 2007. The rally was staged in the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, against the country's military leader, Pervez Musharraf. Bhutto was the foremost member of the People's Party of Pakistan, a political party founded by her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
In October, Ms. Bhutto returned from a ten year self-imposed exile in London. The day after her return, her welcoming parade had been bombed, killing at least 134 of her supporters and wounding more than 400. Bhutto herself escaped unharmed from this attack.
Although Bhutto had been elected as Pakistan's prime minister twice, she was twice expelled from office under dubious charges of corruption, which prompted her ten-year exile in London. Notably, Bhutto was the first female leader of Pakistan. In fact, she was the first female leader in the region in the past century.
The exact details of Bhutto's death are still unknown. Many of her supporters insist that the Pakistani government, under Musharraf, was complicit in her assassination. They say that she was shot before a suicide bomber blew himself up.
Musharraf rejects these charges. His government states that she died when she hit her head on her car's sunroof after the suicide bomber detonated his weapon. Musharraf, in fact, has called for the body of Bhutto to be exhumed in order to confirm exactly how she died.
However, Musharraf has ruled out using his executive power to order a post-mortem examination without the agreement of Bhutto's family. Bhutto's family refuses to grant permission to exhume Bhutto's corpse without assurance that the examination will be carried out by the United Nations or some other international third party. According to Musharraf in an Al Jazeera interview on January 13, however, "there cannot be a UN investigation. There are not two or three countries involved. Why should there be a UN investigation? This is ridiculous."
In October, Ms. Bhutto returned from a ten year self-imposed exile in London. The day after her return, her welcoming parade had been bombed, killing at least 134 of her supporters and wounding more than 400. Bhutto herself escaped unharmed from this attack.
Although Bhutto had been elected as Pakistan's prime minister twice, she was twice expelled from office under dubious charges of corruption, which prompted her ten-year exile in London. Notably, Bhutto was the first female leader of Pakistan. In fact, she was the first female leader in the region in the past century.
The exact details of Bhutto's death are still unknown. Many of her supporters insist that the Pakistani government, under Musharraf, was complicit in her assassination. They say that she was shot before a suicide bomber blew himself up.
Musharraf rejects these charges. His government states that she died when she hit her head on her car's sunroof after the suicide bomber detonated his weapon. Musharraf, in fact, has called for the body of Bhutto to be exhumed in order to confirm exactly how she died.
However, Musharraf has ruled out using his executive power to order a post-mortem examination without the agreement of Bhutto's family. Bhutto's family refuses to grant permission to exhume Bhutto's corpse without assurance that the examination will be carried out by the United Nations or some other international third party. According to Musharraf in an Al Jazeera interview on January 13, however, "there cannot be a UN investigation. There are not two or three countries involved. Why should there be a UN investigation? This is ridiculous."
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