DEVELOPING STORY | BENAZIR ASSASSINATED
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Benazir buried, Pakistan on the edge
Published on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 13:30, Updated on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 16:48 in World section
Tags: Benazir Bhutto, Assassination , Rawalpindi
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Rawalpindi: Enraged crowds rioted across Pakistan and hopes for democracy hung by a thread after Benazir Bhutto was gunned down on Thursday as she waved to supporters from the sunroof of her armored vehicle. The death of President Pervez Musharraf's most powerful opponent threw the nation into chaos just 12 days before elections, and threatened its already unsteady role as a key fighter against Islamic terror.
The murder of Benazir, one of Pakistan's most famous and enduring politicians, sparked violence that killed at least 16 people including three Pakistani policemen and plunged efforts to restore democracy to this nuclear-armed US ally into turmoil.
Another opposition politician, Nawaz Sharif, announced he was boycotting January 8 parliamentary elections in which Benazir was hoping to recapture the premiership. Pakistan's Prime Minister Mohammed Mian Soomro said on Friday the government has no immediate plan to postpone the elections.
Benazir, 54, was struck down amid scenes of blood and chaos as an unknown gunman opened fire and, according to witnesses and police, blew himself up, killing 20 other people.
Musharraf blamed Islamic terrorists, pledging in a nationally televised speech that "we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out."
President Bush, who spoke briefly by phone with Musharraf, looked tense as he spoke to reporters, denouncing the "murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy."
US intelligence officials said they were trying to determine the validity of purported claims of responsibility by al-Qaida, stressing they still couldn't say who was responsible.
Benazir's death marked yet another grim chapter in Pakistan's bloodstained history, 28 years after her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, another ex-prime minister, was hanged by a military dictatorship in the same city where she was killed.
"The repercussions of her murder will continue to unfold for months, even years," read a mournful editorial in the Dawn newspaper. "What is clear is that Pakistan's political landscape will never be the same, having lost one of its finest daughters."
Benazir will be buried near her father's grave in the family's ancestral village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on Friday afternoon, said Nazir Dkhoki, a spokesman for Benazir's party. He added that Benazir's husband and three children have arrived from Dubai to attend.
Her death left her Pakistan People's Party leaderless and plunged the Muslim nation of 160 million into violence and recriminations, with Benazir supporters accusing Musharraf's government of failing to protect her in the wake of death threats and previous attempts on her life.
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Well I agree she is a great loss to any Nation of her stature. But, want went into my mind
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Pakistan is being paid back in the same coin..They gave birth to extremism, terrorism and now it is taking the
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USA BOASTS ABOUT ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND BLOCKING TERRORIST MONEY THRU ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING ETC ON ONE SIDE AND PUMPS AID
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The partition was what Pakistan wanted...........se what they have become after it ..a haven for extremists who are ruining the
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Democracy in Pakistan is a Mid Day Dream. Just few days back MRS Benajir told in an interview explained as
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