Holy crap. I wonder who's behind this, and why she, of all the claimants for leadership of Pakistan, seems to have been the most viciously and consistently targeted? You know there will be major examinations of Musharif, but surely he's not involved...? News stories are extremely incomplete, so the body of this article might say she was only injured, though the title says she died...
****************** http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/pakistan.sharif/index.html RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was targeted in a deadly suicide bombing Thursday. Media reports quote her husband saying she suffered a bullet wound to the neck in the attack. The attack has left at least 14 dead and 40 injured, Tariq Azim Khan, the country's former information minister, told CNN in a telephone interview. Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari told CNN affiliate Geo TV that his wife was shot in the neck in the attack. The attacker is said to have detonated a bomb as he tried to enter the rally where thousands of people gathered to hear Bhutto speak, police said. Bhutto is said to have been leaving the rally when the attack occurred and was taken to a hospital in an unconcious state, the Geo TV report said. Earlier, a spokesman for Bhutto told CNN she was safe and taken away from the scene. Video from the scene of the blast broadcast from Geo TV showed wounded people being loaded into ambulances. Up to 20 people are dead, the report said. Earlier, four supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif died when members of another political party opened fire on them at a rally near the Islamabad airport Friday, local police said. Several other members of Sharif's party were wounded, police added. While President Pervez Musharraf has promised free and fair parliamentary elections next month, continued instability in the tribal areas and the threat of attack on large crowds has kept people from attending political rallies and dampened the country's political process. Campaigners from various political groups say fewer people are coming out to show their support due to government crackdowns and the threat of violence. At least 136 people were killed and more than 387 wounded on October 18 when a suicide bomber attacked Bhutto's slow-moving motorcade. The former PM returned to the country after eight years of self-imposed exile to a massive show of support in the southern port city of Karachi. Bhutto called it "an attack on democracy" and vowed it would not deter her political campaign. Today's violence come less than two weeks ahead of January parliamentary elections and as many days after President Pervez Musharraf lifted a six-week-old state of emergency he said was necessary to ensure the country's stability. Critics said Musharraf's political maneuvering was meant to stifle the country's judiciary as well as curb the media and opposition groups to secure more power. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
