Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was fatally hit by
sunroof lever after a terrorist attacker missed 3 shots at
her and blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack on Thursday
outside a campaign rally, Pakistani interior ministry spokesman
said Saturday. (
Video: Pakistan's Bhutto assassinated 
)
Bhutto, 54, died in a hospital after a suspected suicide bomber
attacked her at an election rally inside Liaquat Bagh park in
Rawalpindi, some 30 km south from Islamabad.
Pakistani Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema
said in a news briefing Saturday that Benazir Bhutto was
hit by sunroof lever on her right side, which caused her death.
Earlier, media reports suggested that gun shots or bomb blast
could be the direct cause of Bhutto's death.
Cheema confirmed that three gun shots were fired but none of
them hit Bhutto. A report signed by seven doctors showed that there
was no bullet or shrapnel inside her body.
But Farzana Raja of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party said
the government's explanation is "a pack of lies," she said "it was
a sniper shooting," also accusing the government of a "total
security lapse."
Asif Ali Zardari (C-with
white cap), husband of assassinated opposition leader Benazir
Bhutto, lays a shawl at the grave of his wife Benazir Bhutto after
her funeral in Garhi Khuda Bukhsh near Naudero Dec. 28,
2007.
Hundreds of thousands of people Friday attended the funeral.
Bhutto was buried near the grave of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
at her home village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in the southern Sindh
province.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday
that China was shocked at the killing of Pakistan's opposition
leader Benazir Bhutto and strongly condemns the terrorist attack.
(Video: China condemns killing of Pakistan's Bhutto
)
On Friday, the Chinese government sent a message of condolences
to Pakistan over the death of the country's opposition leader and
former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
In the message, the Chinese government said it was shocked to
learn of the assassination of Bhutto.
People carry the coffin of
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at a local hospital
in Rawalpindi, Pakistan yesterday. Bhutto was assassinated in a
suicide attack earlier yesterday that also killed at least 22 other
people. Her death stoked new chaos across the nuclear-armed nation,
an important US ally in the war on terrorism. (Shanghai
Daily)
"Ms. Benazir Bhutto, a seasoned Pakistani statesman and an old
friend of the Chinese people, has made significant contributions to
the promotion of China-Pakistan friendly relations during her
lifetime," said the message.
China extended profound condolences over Bhutto's death and
sincere sympathies to her family, it said.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Thursday demanded complete
inquiry into the assassination of PPP Chairperson and former Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto, according to local press reports
Friday.
"We demand complete investigation as to who were behind the
attack," PPP deputy chief Makhdoom Amin Faheem told a news
conference in Islamabad.
The latest reports reported that at least 22 others were
also killed in the blast.
Pakistani opposition leader
Benazir Bhutto leaves a rally in the city of Rawalpindi in this TV
grab December 27, 2007, shortly before she was killed in a gun and
bomb attack. (CRI/Reuters)
Al-Qaeda is the major suspect in the murder of Benazir
Bhutto, US government and private analysts said. Reportedly, a
spokesperson for the al-Qaeda terrorist network has claimed
responsibility for Benazir Bhutto's death.
"We terminated America's most precious asset who had vowed to
defeat [the] mujahadeen," Al-Qaeda's commander and spokesperson
Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone
call from an unknown location.
The U.S. intelligence agencies were still investigating whether
al-Qaeda terrorists had been behind the assassination of Pakistan's
former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto , the White House said on
Friday.
"There have been many claims of responsibility. Our intelligence
community is still looking into it," White House spokesman Scott
Stanzel told reporters at Crawford, Texas, where President George
W. Bush's family is spending their New Year holiday.
Pakistani Interior ministry spokesman Cheema disclosed that
Al-Qaida operative Baitullah Mehsud was behind the assassination of
Bhutto. He said, "We have recorded a telephone call of Baitullah
Mehsud in which he congratulated a cleric for killing Benazir
Bhutto."
Cheema said that Bhutto was on the hit list of Al-Qaida and she
was receiving life threats from the same group since her arrival in
Pakistan.
Baitullah Mehsud was also involved in suicide attack on Bhutto
in the southern port city of Karachi on Oct. 19 when she was
leading a procession, he said.
Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party, served
twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had
returned to Pakistan on October 18 after an eight-year exile.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf held an emergency meeting
at the presidency on Thursday with top government officials after
the assassination of Bhutto, state-run television reported.
Musharraf appealed to the nation to remain calm and peaceful
after the death of Bhutto "so that the evil designs of terrorists
can be defeated," state TV said.
Musharraf also announced three days of mourning for Benazir
Bhutto. In a nationally televised speech, he said, "This cruelty is
the work of those terrorists who we are fighting."
(Video: Musharraf blame terrorists for the death of
Bhutto )
A supporter of Pakistan
former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto mourns deaths of his
colleagues after a suicide attack in Rawalpindi, Pakistan,
Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto died Thursday evening after being shot and seriously injured
in an explosion near the capital Islamabad. (Xinhua/AP
Photo)
Dead or injured supporters
of Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto are seen after a
suicide attack in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007.
(Xinhua/AP Photo)
Blood is seen at the site
of an explosion outside a rally by Pakistani opposition leader
Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi December 27, 2007. Bhutto was killed
in the gun and bomb attack after the rally on Thursday, her party
said. (China Daily/Agencies)
(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2007)
