Posted on 12/27/2007 4:07:56 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto was the target of threats from virtually all of the militant groups who make Pakistan their home — from al-Qaida to homegrown terrorists to tribal insurgents on the Afghan border.
Her assassination after a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi — where the country's military and intelligence services are based — also focused anger and suspicion on the government of President Pervez Musharraf.
The former prime minister had blamed al-Qaida, the Taliban and homegrown militants for a suicide bombing that tore through a procession welcoming her back from exile in October. But she accused militant "sympathizers" in Musharraf's administration of backing the attempt on her life, and Bhutto's supporters chanted, "Killer, Killer, Musharraf!" outside the hospital where she was pronounced dead Thursday.
Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri decried Bhutto's return in a video message this month and called for attacks on all the candidates in Pakistan's Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, in which Bhutto and her opposition party were campaigning.
Bhutto once said that several Pakistanis arrested in an assassination attempt during her second term in mid-1990s had said they were following Osama bin Laden's orders.
Bhutto, a U.S.-backed, British-educated woman who forcefully pledged to redouble Pakistan's fight against Islamic militancy, was also despised by Taliban-style radicals backed by tribes along the Afghan border.
Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal warlord in the Waziristan region, was quoted in a Pakistani newspaper as saying that he would welcome Bhutto's return from exile with suicide bombers. He later denied that in statements to local television and newspaper reporters.
Bhutto also was labeled an infidel by other groups, such as Jaish-ul Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, which were spawned by Pakistan's military and intelligence services to take on neighboring India in the disputed Kashmir region.
The groups later aligned themselves with al-Qaida and have vowed to battle foreign troops in Afghanistan and wage war against the Pakistani military for its support of the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign. Some of their leaders have said Bhutto deserved to die for her threats to crush militants.
"I think by far the most likely (suspect) is the al-Qaida organization, which has been trying to kill Bhutto for the better part of the decade," said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former senior director for South Asia on the National Security Council.
"If it's not them, it's certainly one of the groups that are sympathetic with them," Riedel said. "They all work together and share a common antipathy to Bhutto because she's a woman, an advocate of secularism, a supporter of democracy and everything they stand against."
Retired army Gen. Hamid Gul, a former head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence secret service agency, questioned the security arrangements made for Bhutto's rally.
A cordon of police surrounded the park where Bhutto spoke, yet her attacker was able to get to the rear gate, where he shot her as she was leaving and then detonated himself, according to witnesses.
"How could they enter with so much of a police cordon. I am surprised," Gul said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Gul also asserted that a suicide bomber couldn't have carried out the attack without being forewarned of Bhutto's movements with a cell phone or other device.
Bhutto had complained after the October assassination attempt in the city of Karachi that devices used to jam cell phone signals had not been working, Gul said.
"Why were the jammers not working? She had been begging the government after the attack in Karachi saying the jammers were faulty then," he said. "I know that these things could not occur if the jammers are working."
Gul said, "I think it is convenient to put the blame on Al Qaida. But there are other possibilities and they have to be examined," he said, without offering specifics. Gul is strongly opposed to Musharraf's support for the anti-terror campaign and has labeled himself the only public supporter of jihadis.
In an interview with the AP in November, a former district leader of Hezb-ul Mujahedeen said some members of Pakistan's intelligence establishment resented both the idea of a woman leading a Muslim nation, as well as Bhutto's verbal assault against militant Muslims. Hezb-ul Mujahedeen is considered heavily funded by Pakistani intelligence to fight in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
"In the Pakistani (secret) agencies and in the army there are so many people who are not secular, who are fundamentalists and will help a suicide bomber to carry out his job," said the former district leader, Saifullah, who uses just one name.
A former Taliban intelligence official, Mullah Ehsanullah, told The Associated Press earlier this year that there were more than 500 men training as suicide bombers in 50 sites across the region in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
These camps he said are run by Al Qaida and include Pakistani jihadis and Arab militants.
A second former Pakistani intelligence officer and self-declared friend of Osama bin Laden, Khalid Khwaja, said Bhutto "was very openly threatening these tribal people."
"Naturally some of them could have done it," he said. "It has to be someone who hates you to that degree. She was certainly hated to that degree by those elements who are victims of the American terror."
It would be good if al-Quaeda was blamed and the people turned against them.
OK, that one is throwing me. By all reports the assassin shot her twice and then detonated a bomb. How does a cellphone jammer work into that equation?
I agree with the above sentiment. Last I looked, Musharraf wasn't known to have a bunch of suicide bombers stacked up to do his bidding.
That would happen if Musharraf agrees to a transparent investigation, preferably with US involvement. If he tries to cover it up like he did with the October attack on Bhutto, Pakistanis are likely to blame elements within Musharraf’s regime for this attack.
It is quite likely that Musharraf will posptone the elections and declare Martial Law again. Given that his party was facing massive defeat in the elections planned for next week, an indefinite postponement and the elimination of the most popular Pakistani opponent to him would be seen as benefiting Musharraf.
Whether Musharraf does the right thing in the coming days will determine who Pakistani people turn against.
militant (read terrorist)
From the article above:
Gul also asserted that a suicide bomber couldn't have carried out the attack without being forewarned of Bhutto's movements with a cell phone or other device.
;-)
Musharraf is right. This is suspicious.
They already are.
Bhutto Supporters Blame Musharraf
Well, for one thing, the “blame Musharaff” crowd (in Pakistan) is probably fanned up by one of the other opposition leaders, who was originally overthrown by Musharaff. He has no love lost with Musharaff, and would like to fan the people up and place the blame on Musharaff.
Now that one of his opponents (Bhutto) has been eliminated, it’s in this opposition leader’s interest to fan the flames against Musharaff.
It’s apparently of no consequence to these people who wish to blame Musharaff that al Qaida is taking responsibility for the assassination of Bhutto. Heck, al Qaida said that Bhutto was a “tool of the West” and they were intent on eliminating her. They succeeded.
Of course, having it be al Qaida doesn’t play very well into helping the other opposition leader, so he’s going to blame Musharaff. It’s all politics over there...
Regards,
Star Traveler
If it was the ISI or Army it would be because they feared loss of power and money under Bhutto.
MDS
Musharraf Derangement Syndrome
What does he stand to lose in an election
and why would he need to back this action?
It would be the same culpability to the government whether it ordered the hit or covers up ISI involvement in the attack. That is why we need to have Musharraf get ahead of the issue with transparent and fast investigation. There was strong suspicion on former ISI man and current IB chief Ejaz Shah having a role in the previous attack on Bhutto. Shah was the “handler” of several terrorist masterminds when he was with the ISI but he is also one of the men Musharraf turned to when he launched is 1999 coup.
You quoted the article as saying — “Gul also asserted that a suicide bomber couldn’t have carried out the attack without being forewarned of Bhutto’s movements with a cell phone or other device.”
Well, that’s not really true. That’s assuming something that may not be true. That’s assuming, for one thing, that there was only one killer anywhere around there. If I were al Qaida and didn’t know exactly what route that Bhutto was going to take, to leave the premises, then I would simply have several killers along all the possible exit routes.
And it’s like another thread where I was commenting on the same thing. Someone else pointed out that the assassination that started World War 1, was accomplished by having 25 assassins along the route that was going to be taken. It only took one of them to accomplish the deed.
Now, it’s very likely that al Qaida had suicide bombers and shooters along all the exits and only had to have one of them succeed, the one that was on the actual exit route — while the others simply “melted away” when the deed was done.
It was already made abundantly clear by al Qaida that they were going after Bhutto. They got her. That’s what happened.
It didn’t take cooperation of the ISI or any factions of the government to accomplish this, although there are factions of the government who are in league with the Taliban and al Qaida.
Regards,
Star Traveler
Nawaz Sharif has more to gain from Bhotto’s death than Musharraf.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.