Who Killed Benazir Bhutto…And What Next?

It is understandable that in the aftermath of the killing of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the needle of suspicion would swerve in several directions, including Islamic militants and the ruling Pakistani establishment led by President Pervez Musharraf himself. The US administration’s role in this tragic and barbaric episode would also come under the spotlight for a variety of reasons.

I am indeed impressed by the original coverage in the media and the blogosphere on the recent events in Pakistan. My guide is, of course, the Memeorandum for providing a variety of opinions and excellent reportage from the media and the blogs. Let me begin with the CNN story that says the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin Thursday citing an alleged claim of responsibility by al Qaeda for former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

Memeorandum then quotes Firedoglake weblog: “In the face of suspicions about possible complicity by the Musharraf regime, and without knowing what happened, our FBI and DHS are giving unverified reports to US media in which al Qaeda takes responsibility. It may be true or false, but we have been conditioned to believe it…

” The Bush Administration did not kill Benazir Bhutto; someone else did that. But it appears the Administration convinced her to go back to Pakistan to save a risky policy foolishly built on a despised, repressive military dictator to fight the US ‘war on terror.’ Now a courageous woman is dead, another nation is in chaos, the US is further discredited, it can’t account for billions in military aid, and we still have an administration that remains a menace to everyone’s security as long as they remain in office. But the Administration wants us to believe that only al Qaeda is responsible.”

The Washington Post states: “With a vital stake in preserving the stability of a country that harbors both a nuclear arsenal and the top leaders of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the United States must urgently press Mr. Musharraf, Mr. Sharif, and other key Pakistani actors to take steps that will alleviate rather than further inflame the situation.

“Perhaps most urgent is the capture of those who committed the murder and a full and credible investigation. In the absence of such a clear accounting, conspiracy theories blaming Mr. Musharraf or the military for Ms. Bhutto’s death will probably proliferate, to the further benefit of the Islamists. ”

If we look at the history of assassination in the world, it is rare that the motive of killing is ever established or the real culprits identified. Even in the modern world the event is soon relegated from burning newspaper headlines and TV’s ‘breaking news’ to conspiracy theories in books.

Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics, dating back at least as far as recorded history. Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar can be noted as famous examples. Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Shia Imams. The practice was also well-known in ancient China like Jing Ke’s failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang. The ancient Indian military advisor Chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra. More here…

Meanwhile the question is who would be Benazir Bhutto’s successor in the Pakistan People’s Party? According to the AFP report: “US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday telephoned the successor (Amin Fahim) to slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to express US support for Pakistan’s upcoming elections, a spokesman said.”

The Hindu reports: “With the assassination of its charismatic leader Benazir Bhutto, the PPP is in a quandary as to who would lead the country’s largest political party which has traditionally banked on her family. The names of Bhutto’s trusted aide Makhdoom Amin Fahim, her husband Asif Ali Zardari and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan as her successor are doing the rounds.

“Zardari wields considerable influence in the party but lacks popularity among the masses, mainly due to the charges of corruption that dogged him during Bhutto’s two terms as prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s. Fahim, on the other hand, is a low key leader and lacks the charisma of Bhutto, who was her party’s only star campaigner during the recent electioneering.
Party sources suggested that the PPP could look at other leaders like Ahsan, who is also the Supreme Court Bar Association President.”

To complicate matters further in Pakistan, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced Thursday his party was boycotting next month’s elections following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. He demanded that President Pervez Musharraf resign immediately. More here…

” ‘I demand that Musharraf should quit immediately,’ he said. ‘Musharraf is the cause of all the problems. The federation of Pakistan cannot remain intact in the presence of President Musharraf’.”

And, finally, Pakistan government reveals (or does not reveal) how Benazir was killed…Please click here for more… “Mystery shrouds the death of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In an explosive revelation, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Friday said that Bhutto did not die of bullet wounds. The doctors have submitted a report to the Pakistan government in which they say that no post-mortem was performed on Bhutto’s body and they had not received any instructions to perform one.”