Posted on 12/27/2007 7:38:42 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Former Prime Minister Assassinated During Political Rally CHICAGO (CBS) ―
It is chaos and confusion in Pakistan Thursday after an assassin reportedly shot and killed Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, then blew himself up, killing 20 others.
Al-Qaeda is claiming responsibility for the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Bhutto was speaking to thousands of supporters at a political rally in the northern city of Rawalpindi. Upon her leaving in a white sport-utility vehicle after the speech, Bhutto's security advisor says the vehicle pulled away and a gunman approached the car and started shooting, hitting Bhutto in the neck and chest. Twenty others were killed in a suicide bombing that followed the shooting.
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharaff is urging calm in the country. At least nine people were killed in riots that broke out after her death.
President George W. Bush and other world leaders quickly condemned the assassination as a huge blow to democracy in the region.
Bhutto's death also threatens stability in a country with nuclear weapons. Intelligence agencies are closely monitoring missile sites.
The loss of a powerful leader is resonating in Chicago's Pakistani community, where all eyes are on satellite TV watching the scenes unfolding in the wake of Bhutto's assassination. In the Pakistani business strip along Devon Avenue on the Far North Side, shock and sadness overshadowed commerce Thursday.
The first female prime minister in the Islamic world was, to many here, a beacon of hope and the best chance for democracy in a country facing a turbulent future.
"She represent a woman come from a long way woman can be successful if she stand up," said local radio host and newspaper journalist Ifti Nasim.
Nasim met Bhutto and was anticipating a victory for the two-time former prime minister in the upcoming January 8 election.
Just before she was killed, Bhutto was waving to supporters as she left a political rally. It is that image that encourages the young women who are members of her political party to advance women's causes in her memory.
"She meant more than a great leader. She was a role mode for us. Like a family member," said People's Party Member Sadia Umarani.
"This is going to damage the integrity of Pakistan," said Dr. Tahawwur Rana. "If a leader of that stature is not safe in the country, what can you imagine about an ordinary person?"
At Khan Bar-B-Q employees like Azhar Hassan wondering what happens next.
"Pakistan's future is bleak, you know," Hassan said.
Syed Raza says he was driving his taxi when he heard on the morning news that the opposition leader had been gunned down. He called his regular clients to say he was too grief-stricken to work. He says Bhutto was his "role model" and he worries his homeland will descend into violence.
Within an hour, he stood on a corner in the heart of Chicago's main Pakistani neighborhood holding a small picture of Bhutto. Raza says Bhutto was the main hope not only for those in Pakistan but for Pakistanis living in the United States. And he says he fears Pakistan will now descend into chaos.
Like other Pakistani-Americans, Raza spent much of Thursday on the phone with friends and relatives in Pakistan. Raza's wife is in Karachi with the couple's three children and told him she could hear gunfire and see smoke from riots in the city.
"There's big chaos there," he said. "I'm very worried about my wife and kids.
Rana Javed is a 53-year-old Pakistani community leader. He says he cried all morning and is in shock. He says met Bhutto on one of her several trips to Chicago in recent years.
Bhutto represented a hope for a return to democracy, especially among the poor, and the educated middle class. And there's fear her death will trigger more violence.
"I think the Pakistan community is very much in grief, very concerned," said Javed Rathore, an Oak Brook realtor and member of the Pakistan People's Party.
Rathore has known Bhutto since 1986, when she returned to Pakistan, ending the exile that followed her father's execution.
As senior vice president of the Pakistan People's Party in the U.S., Rathor met with Bhutto often through the years, and last saw her in September, but he doesn't believe elections set for January 8 can go on as scheduled.
"I don't see because it's turmoil in Pakistan," he said. "Everybody is crying now, whether they belong to the People's Party or any political party."
Pakistani expert Aasif Malik spoke to CBS 2, saying he still cannot believe she is dead.
"With the first attack on Benazir Bhutto, she said it was all non-Democratic forces in Pakistan who are doing this," Malik said.
President Bush condemned the assassination in a brief news conference Thursday.
Bhutto served as Pakistan's prime minister in both1988 and 1996. Removed from office amid corruption charges, she left the country for eight years. She returned this October with hopes of sharing power with President Pervez Musharraf. Malik said Musharraf was one of the reasons Bhutto returned to Pakistan.
Unsuccessful in her power-sharing deal, she continued to rally support for her opposition party. That party is now left without a leader 11 days before elections are scheduled.
In a nationally televised speech, Musharraf blamed terrorists and called for three days of mourning.
"She was in danger, she knew that," Malik said. "But I still cannot believe it."
Malik thinks the election will be canceled.
Many in Chicago's Pakistani community are blaming Islamic fundamentalists for Bhutto's death. But they're also suspicious of Musharraf because Bhutto was the odds-on favorite to defeat him in the upcoming election.
Because of those suspicions, some are demanding an independent investigation to determine what forces were behind Bhutto's death.
Her return to Pakistan more than two months ago resulted in massive demonstrations of support, and an attempted assassination at a rally.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who recently spoke with Bhutto, says the United States has a responsibility to ensure her dream for democracy in Pakistan is not buried along with her.
"Her blood becomes her legacy," he said. "She is in the realm of Abraham Lincoln whose blood was shed to save a nation or the legacy of Martin Luther King or John Kennedy. She was killed. She was rallying people to revive their hopes."
There will be a Muslim prayer service for Bhutto's soul held in Rogers Park Friday night. Hundreds are expected to attend.
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