Posted on 12/29/2007 2:45:25 PM PST by CarrotAndStick
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani TV news channel has aired photographs of two men it said were involved in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto after an election rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
One of the two grainy photos -- which Dawn News channel said were clicked by an amateur photographer -- showed a youth wearing sunglasses aiming a pistol at Bhutto's back while she waved through the sun-roof of her bulletproof vehicle to her supporters.
The other picture, apparently taken before the shooting, showed the same youth standing next to another man who had a white cloth wrapped around his face. Dawn News described the second man as the "suspected suicide bomber".
The position of the youth with the pistol in the photo coincided with the position of the shooter seen in video footage of the attack on Bhutto released by the interior ministry on Saturday. In that footage, the face of the shooter is obscured but his hand can be seen holding a pistol that is used to fire three to four shots towards Bhutto.
A TV grab shows the suspected gunman (in sunglasses) and the alleged suicide bomber (in white scarf) near Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's vehicle in Rawalpindi.
One of the two grainy photos -- which Dawn News channel said were clicked by an amateur photographer -- showed a youth wearing sunglasses aiming a pistol at
I guess I am a little old fashioned. To have the Swiss presented as ethical, they should first return the gold fillings from the jews from WW11.
Interesting. Thanks for posting. Thanks to all contributors.
Seems I saw a film clip on TV where she was complaining about the lack of security that was given to her. I’ll try to find the link.
It’s my understanding she definitely did not refuse security precautions, but actually wanted more security and was not given it.
She refused to ride in a bullet-proof bubble and she insisted on standing up in the sunroof - an action she did after speeches...she was warned how dangerous this was - making herself a open target...but she wanted to open and "close to the people" -
One photographer said:
"I couldn't believe my eyes, just because of what happened in Karachi with the assassination attempt just a couple of months ago," he said in a phone interview. "But she wanted to get close to the people. She loved being in close contact, they loved her, and she thought it was worth the risk." (I remember reading her saying that very thing some time before she was killed. She knew they vowed to get her. She made it easy.)
Here's an eye/camera witness to the shooting
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/bhutto.photographer/index.html
Yes, I agree she shouldn’t have stood up in the sunroof. In fact, I was surprised she’d go back to Pakistan in the first place. Seemed like a bad idea from the start.
Was just mentioning the TV clip I saw. I’ll try to find the link. She did talk about asking for more security but didn’t get it, as best I can remember. But as you said, she didn’t use common sense at other times too and ended tragically.
One of the reasons she went back was because she had 1.5 billion dollars that had been frozen in a Swiss bank for years due to corruption charges from back when she was in office years ago.
She had worked out a deal that if she went back to Pakistan, they would unfreeze the money.
As for protection, she did ask for 'jammers' that would interrupt signals from remote-detonation devices - the security people felt the chances were greater, as had already happened, that if there were further attempts, is would again be a suicide bomber - in which case jammers would be useless. They wanted her to take other safety measures - but that would have kept a barrier between her and the crowds and she didn't want that.
All but impossible to protect someone who insisted on being in the thick of the crowd - and even to become a perfect single target but standing up, head above the crowd, providing a clear shot.
They didn't get her with the first suicide bomber when she came back, but they quickly caught on to her habit of greeting the people by standing up through the sun roof - so to hedge their bet, they took advantage of the perfect target she make of herself and shot her first...then blew.
It’s even more tragic if the main reason she went back to Pakistan was to unfreeze the money. I thought she went for more “patriotic” reasons.
Just hope at that very last second before dying she accepted the real God, not the false muslim one.
Hmm, you can see the gunman with the dark glasses on, and the other one with the balding temples. Two of them. But in the YouTube clip earlier, there is another man holding the gun at an angle, right in front of the balding gunman. I was wondering if this is a third gunman, or the same gunman with the shades, from another angle.
The India News video is the best as they let it run in real time without the sound effects. The Pakistan TV Channel has the same footage but they play dramatic music over it...very weird.
My theory is this was organized by Pakistani Intelligence, I think it’s known as ISI. That agency is loaded with Taliban supporters and, in fact, kept them in power in Afghanistan all those years. I’m sure they are protecting the hoodlum (er, I mean jihadists) in those so-called tribal areas. The whole things smells of an intelligence hit. It could even be that the gun assassin didn’t even know a suicide bomber was sent to kill him and destroy all evidence.
The only thing is these ISI guys, like other bureaucrats, simply don’t understand how almost everybody has a video recording device these days, LOL.
The ISI at the end of the day is an extension of the army-controlled by army officers.
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.