Bhutto Murder

[Evan Burton]

Oh - beware Bhutto assassination video clips online. The major AV companies have warned that some hackers have inserted a script / CODEC into the file at some sites. See here:

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006132.html

http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/ind...eading-malware/

http://www.scmagazineus.com/Bhutto-assassi...article/100230/

[Pamela Brown]

It is a sad time for Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto defined her situation prior to her assassination. She said that she had requested and not been given sufficient protection. She was entitled to it as a candidate and as a prior Prime Minister. In addition, she said that if something happened to her, to look to Mushareff.

Ironically, she was wearing a bullet-proof vest, and should not have stuck her head out of the top of the vehicle.

Will this dreadful act even be properly investigated? There was no autopsy, so there will be no answers otherwise.

[Guest David Guyatt]

FWIW, I was intrigued by the (what I believe to be) first responses from the leaders of the US and UK.

Bush talked of "extremists" and Browne of "terrorists". There is a distinction....they are running, apparently, a War on Terror, not extremism. We all know it's democracy that is suffering. I just wonder if Bushes statement was worded with consideration and gives insight into his thinking if that's not an oxymoron.

I agree Gary. Exactly my thoughts too. I cannot help feeling now, as I did when I first heard the news of her death, that the US sanctioned this assassination. The fact that Bush was quick to also blame “extremists” for it, merely reinforces this opinion.

It was a "done deal".

[Ron Ecker]

Regarding the assassin being lucky that Bhutto stood up to wave, there may have been other potential assassins in place along the route, especially if this was an intelligence operation, just as there were no doubt contingency plans in Dallas to guarantee success. I don't think people who planned this would put all their eggs in one basket. So the assassin may have been lucky only in that he was the one fated to have the honor of killing and maiming several people and blowing himself up. Had she not stood up, perhaps one of the last assassins stationed along the route would have moved in close enough to try to kill the SUV's occupants with explosion alone.

[Charles Drago]

Bhutto spoke with David Forst one month ago. In this interview she claimed that Sheikh Omar Saeed killed Osama Bin Laden.

Very interesting.

John

Because of the way she said it the most logical explanation is that she simply misspoke; people have suggested she meant Daniel Pearl whose murder Sheik Mohamed has been accused of.

"Logical" is an understatement!

Although I think it just as likely that Ms. Bhutto meant to say that Sheikh Omar Saeed saw O Brother, Where Art Thou and opined that the film, in Hollywood jargon, "really killed [at the box office]."

Or perhaps that the Sheikh had expressed his distress that "[barack] Obama has been laden" with a lot of political baggage.

And why stop here? LHO "misspoke" when he claimed, "I'm just a patsy!" What he meant to say was, "I'm such a Nazi!"

Hey, just the other night, while at dinner with a lady friend, I meant to say, "Would you please pass the salt," but it came out, "You've ruined my life, you blood-sucking shrew!"

Slips happen.

[Paul Rigby]

Ironically, she was wearing a bullet-proof vest, and should not have stuck her head out of the top of the vehicle.

From an Indian website boasting a number of impressively insightful posters:

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic...p=435946#435946

Bullets in abdomen will confirm that it is either armour piercing bullets, confirming army's involvement or someone shooting from inside the SUV, which means someone close to BB is involved in the assassination.

This also explains the hurry in burying the body without a proper post mortem.

Who was inside the car with BB? Why are they not being interviewed? Where is the driver of the SUV? What did he see? Why is none of the security personnel being interviewed. Questions... Questions... Let us see how this gets played out in the next few days.

Did Bhutto's bullet proof vest extend to cover her entire abdomen, I wonder?

[Paul Rigby]

From the POV of the beneficiaries of the war on abstract nouns, the assassination is such a timely boon:

the nascent Caliphate gets nukes;

US special forces get bases on the Iran border...

http://indiapost.com/article/india/1711/

Benazir's last address: Pakistan is in danger

Friday, 12.28.2007, 10:22am (GMT-7)

ISLAMABAD: Minutes before she was assassinated, former premier Benazir Bhutto had said her Pakistan People's Party would "save the country" from extremists and terrorists if it was voted to power. "The country is in danger-- bomb blasts are taking place everywhere, be it Swat, South Waziristan or the Eid prayers in Charsadda.

We have to save the country with the power of the people," Bhutto told thousands of PPP supporters at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on Thursday. "I appeal all of you to vote for us to save the country," she repeatedly said in her address. The 54-year-old PPP chairperson praised her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, saying he had made Pakistan's defense impregnable and put the country on the path of prosperity and democracy. "Nobody could dare to think of breaking the country or doing terror and extremist acts when the People's Party was in power.

But the country had to suffer whenever a dictator took over," she said. Bhutto said that PPP would never let its workers down after coming to power and there would be rule of law in the country. She referred to reports that foreign troops would be sent to help fight resurgent Taliban and al Qaida in the area bordering Afghanistan.

"Why should foreign troops come in? We can take care of this, I can take care of this, you can take care of this," she said. "Political orphans tried hard to delay the polls. They planned the proclamation of emergency rule in the country and wanted President (Pervez) Musharraf to stay in uniform for five more years but all such bids failed miserably," she said.

The 54-year-old leader, who died a few minutes later after she was shot by a suicide attacker, regretted that the year 2007 had witnessed the removal of the Chief Justice of Pakistan "twice", detention of judges of the superior judiciary and the military operation on Islamabad's Lal Masjid that resulted in the loss of over 100 lives.

She said that addressing unemployment, rising inflation and lack of healthcare and education facilities would top the PPP's agenda if it was elected to power.

[Len Colby]

Ironically, she was wearing a bullet-proof vest, and should not have stuck her head out of the top of the vehicle.

From an Indian website boasting a number of impressively insightful posters:

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic...p=435946#435946

Bullets in abdomen will confirm that it is either armour piercing bullets, confirming army's involvement or someone shooting from inside the SUV, which means someone close to BB is involved in the assassination.

From a Pakistani newspaper:

“Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head,” Mr Naik said. “Bhutto’s personal secretary Naheed Khan and party official Makhdoom Amin Fahim were in the car and they saw what happened,” he said.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/12/29/top6.htm

In other words as I suspected Naik WASN´T in the car and got his information second (or third) hand. No one else said she was shot below the neck. Amin Fahim who was in the car and was one of Naik’s sorces said “She could have survived had she been sitting". Fahim’s statement is inconsistent with her being shot below the roofline perhaps he and Khan and the others in the car “were in on it” but as Ron insightfully put that makes as much sense as Greer shot JFK theories. The doctor who treated her said she had injuries to her head, the Pakistani government (for what it’s worth) said she had injuries to her head or neck (though they have give three different versions of what caused them), a party official who saw Bhutto after she died said "There were clear bullet injuries to her head,"

See post #27 for citations http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...st&p=132107

So Paul can you find any citations other than from Naik who says she was shot in the abdomen?

This also explains the hurry in burying the body without a proper post mortem.

Not very insightful, according to various reports Bhutto’s husband refused an autopsy, maybe he was “in on it” too. If he was power doesn’t seem to have been a motive she willed him control of the party but he passed much of it on to their son.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIE0IUn...H5RXzgD8TQI3J80

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/30/asia/pakistan.php

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/...150537.gedlmu4q

Who was inside the car with BB?

Once again not very insightful, the questioned had been partially answered in a previous post (see quote above)

Why are they not being interviewed? Where is the driver of the SUV? What did he see? Why is none of the security personnel being interviewed. Questions... Questions... Let us see how this gets played out in the next few days.

How does the poster know they haven't?

Did Bhutto's bullet proof vest extend to cover her entire abdomen, I wonder?

Irrelevant

EDIT - Formatted for clarity

Edited December 30, 2007 by Len Colby

[Len Colby]

Bhutto spoke with David Forst one month ago. In this interview she claimed that Sheikh Omar Saeed killed Osama Bin Laden.

Very interesting.

John

Because of the way she said it the most logical explanation is that she simply misspoke; people have suggested she meant Daniel Pearl whose murder Sheik Mohamed has been accused of.

"Logical" is an understatement!

Although I think it just as likely that Ms. Bhutto meant to say that Sheikh Omar Saeed saw O Brother, Where Art Thou and opined that the film, in Hollywood jargon, "really killed [at the box office]."

Or perhaps that the Sheikh had expressed his distress that "[barack] Obama has been laden" with a lot of political baggage.

And why stop here? LHO "misspoke" when he claimed, "I'm just a patsy!" What he meant to say was, "I'm such a Nazi!"

Hey, just the other night, while at dinner with a lady friend, I meant to say, "Would you please pass the salt," but it came out, "You've ruined my life, you blood-sucking shrew!"

Slips happen.

Sarcasm aside yes slips happen. Perhaps Mr. Drago who seems to think otherwise can explain why Bhutto would tell a British audience that her opponents were tied to the person who killed OBL as a way to put them in a bad light and put that crime on par with beheading British tourists? I wonder if he ever watched the clip, somehow I doubt it.

[Pamela Brown]

Ironically, she was wearing a bullet-proof vest, and should not have stuck her head out of the top of the vehicle.

From an Indian website boasting a number of impressively insightful posters:

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic...p=435946#435946

Bullets in abdomen will confirm that it is either armour piercing bullets, confirming army's involvement or someone shooting from inside the SUV, which means someone close to BB is involved in the assassination.

This also explains the hurry in burying the body without a proper post mortem.

Who was inside the car with BB? Why are they not being interviewed? Where is the driver of the SUV? What did he see? Why is none of the security personnel being interviewed. Questions... Questions... Let us see how this gets played out in the next few days.

Did Bhutto's bullet proof vest extend to cover her entire abdomen, I wonder?

It is difficult to tell because of her flowing dress.

[Paul Rigby]

Who was inside the car with BB? Why are they not being interviewed? Where is the driver of the SUV? What did he see? Why is none of the security personnel being interviewed. Questions... Questions... Let us see how this gets played out in the next few days.

An omission now rectified:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../wbhutto130.xml

The interviewee is "Dr. Safdar Abbassi, her chief political adviser, who was sitting behind her."

Not a hint of shot from within Bhutto's vehicle, of course, but then not a mention of the fact that Bhutto had to be transferred to another car from the motorcade en route to hospital. For that minor detail, see Sherry Rehman's interview with CNN anchor Stephen Frazier at this link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/...ies#cnnSTCVideo

Bhutto exhumation OK, Pakistan official says

Aide suggest cover-up, 6.09 minutes

Sherry Rehman, in vehicle immediately behind Bhutto’s, in interview with CNN anchor, World News (Atlanta), Stephen Frazier: “Her own vehicle failed her half the distance [to the hospital – PR]…tyres exploded…transferred to my car.”

Abassi was one of two major beneficiaries from, among other factors, the shake up in Bhutto's security following the Karachi attack on Bhutto in October: http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?194124

The piece in question is entitled: "Rehman Malik sidetracked by Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi," Friday, 9 November 2007

ISLAMABAD: Special advisor to former PM and chairperson PPPP Benazir Bhutto, Rehman Malik has finally been sidetracked by joint efforts of Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi.

It has been known that Ex-FIA DG does not hold the same clout with Benazir Bhutto, who has gradually stopped asking for his advice on important political issues, while other PPPP leaders like Raja Pervez Ashraf and Safdar Abbasi have been given preference for forming a team over dialogue with government.

Sources have disclosed that Benazir relied heavily on Rehman Malik for political decisions and consensus, and he also played a major recent role in arranging a dialogue with the government.

All that seems to be diminishing fast with Rehman Malik seemingly restricted to his local hotel, while Naheed Khan and her husband Safdar Abbasi have managed to draw themselves much closer to Benazir.

Naheed Khan has been often observed situated quite close to Benazir; even shielding her during public rallies and gatherings, while Safdar Abbasi alongwith Raja Pervez Ashraf also had a major role in co-authoring the NRO (National Reconciliation Order), more than Rehman Malik, who is rather less sought after by Benazir nowadays.

For the rejigging of Bhutto's security arrangements in October post-Karachi, follow this link:

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=10706

ISLAMABAD: In the wake of the Thursday night assassination attempt on PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, her party has reshaped her security plan for the forthcoming visit to Larkana and later across Pakistan. According to sources in the party, Rehman Malik has been assigned the task to 'redo' the security outline for Benazir Bhutto's visits during PPP election campaign all across the country. According to sources, security has already been tightened at Bilawal House and the movement around her residence is under constant watch. The decision was taken after a series of meeting at Bilawal House that started the night between Thursday and Friday, which was attended by Security Advisor to Benazir Bhutto, Maj Gen (Retd), Dr Zulifiqar Mirza, Saraj Durrani, Dr Safdar Abbassi besides Rehman Malik.

So, first Malik gets the job of ensuring Bhutto stays alive, then Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi sideline him. Khan and Abassi are reportedly in the SUV when Bhutto is shot. Abassi is seemingly unaware of any suspicious activity within Bhutto's vehicle at the time of her death.

I would be very interested in hearing from any Pakistani readers with more direct knowledge of the background of both Khan and Abassi.

[Len Colby]

RE Bhutto supposedlly being shot in the abdomen (post # 47)

"Nawaz said that Bhutto died from a head injury. At least seven doctors from the Rawalpindi General Hospital – where the leader was rushed immediately after the attack – say there were no bullet marks on Bhutto's body."

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071228/211/6oyrl.html

[Charles Drago]

Bhutto spoke with David Forst one month ago. In this interview she claimed that Sheikh Omar Saeed killed Osama Bin Laden.

Very interesting.

John

Because of the way she said it the most logical explanation is that she simply misspoke; people have suggested she meant Daniel Pearl whose murder Sheik Mohamed has been accused of.

"Logical" is an understatement!

Although I think it just as likely that Ms. Bhutto meant to say that Sheikh Omar Saeed saw O Brother, Where Art Thou and opined that the film, in Hollywood jargon, "really killed [at the box office]."

Or perhaps that the Sheikh had expressed his distress that "[barack] Obama has been laden" with a lot of political baggage.

And why stop here? LHO "misspoke" when he claimed, "I'm just a patsy!" What he meant to say was, "I'm such a Nazi!"

Hey, just the other night, while at dinner with a lady friend, I meant to say, "Would you please pass the salt," but it came out, "You've ruined my life, you blood-sucking shrew!"

Slips happen.

Sarcasm aside yes slips happen. Perhaps Mr. Drago who seems to think otherwise can explain why Bhutto would tell a British audience that her opponents were tied to the person who killed OBL as a way to put them in a bad light and put that crime on par with beheading British tourists? I wonder if he ever watched the clip, somehow I doubt it.

As always, "Colby" is wrong.

I even watched the BBC broadcast in which the OBL reference is edited out in its entirety.

You're just too easy. No sport at all.

"Colby" is the latest version of the $10,000 toilet seat. (And I can't tell you how much I love the comparison!)

Military-Industrial Complex waste -- in both senses of the word.

Edited December 30, 2007 by Charles Drago

[Paul Rigby]

Sarcasm aside yes slips happen. Perhaps Mr. Drago who seems to think otherwise can explain why Bhutto would tell a British audience that her opponents were tied to the person who killed OBL as a way to put them in a bad light and put that crime on par with beheading British tourists? I wonder if he ever watched the clip, somehow I doubt it.

The true measure of US concern for Bhutto's continued survival:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../wbhutto230.xml

Bhutto 'blocked from hiring US bodyguards'

By Philip Sherwell in New York

Last Updated: 2:42am GMT 30/12/2007

“It's odd and disturbing that the Pakistan government did not do a better job of protecting her and that the US apparently could not do more to persuade them," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and former National Security Council director for South Asia. "She made it very clear privately and publicly that she did not have enough security. That was abundantly clear after the attack on her return.

"I can't explain why the Bush administration didn't pressure Musharraf to do more. Her death leaves the US with a Pakistan policy that is completely bankrupt."

And on the real link between the corpse OBL and the campaign against Bhutto:

http://progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboa...;topic_id=80188

Retired Brigadier supervising Benazir's security was Osama's handler, says expert

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071019/139/6m5uk.html

Chennai, Oct.19 (ANI): The retired brigadier who was given the responsibility of securing former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's car journey through Karachi on Thursday, used to be the handling officer of Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mulla Omar when he was attached with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Disclosing this information in an article for the rediff website, former Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, B.Raman says that Brigadier (retired) Ejaz Shah, whose resignation is being demanded by Benazir Bhutto, is a close confidante of President General Pervez Musharraf.

Raman says that after Musharraf seized power on October 12, 1999, he had Shah posted as the Home Secretary of Punjab. He also says that Omar Sheikh, who orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, surrendered before Shah because Omar Sheikh knew him before and was confident that Ejaz Shah would see that he was not tortured.

So close are the links between Shah and Musharraf that when several allegations were filed against him, Musharraf sought to send him as Ambassador to Australia or Indonesia. Both countries reportedly refused to accept him. Musharraf then made him the Director General of the Intelligence Bureau and he saw to it that the death sentence against Omar Sheikh for his role in the Pearl case was not executed.

The courts have been repeatedly postponing hearings on the appeal filed by Omar Sheikh against the death sentence.

Shah, according to Raman, also played an active role in the campaign to discredit Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Caudhury after he started calling for the files of a large number of missing persons who were taken into custody by the police and the intelligence agencies.

Shah is also a close personal friend of many Punjabi leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid), which is opposed to Benazir's return.

According to these sources, the suicide bomber or bombers managed to penetrate the security cordon of the police and IB officers without being frisked, but could not penetrate the inner cordon of security guards of the PPP. When stopped on Thursday night, they blew themselves up at a distance from her vehicle. At the time of the explosion, Bhutto had gone inside the vehicle to rest for a while. This seems to have contributed to her miraculous escape. Had she been standing on top she might have been injured, if not killed? (ANI)

[Len Colby]

Who was inside the car with BB? Why are they not being interviewed? Where is the driver of the SUV? What did he see? Why is none of the security personnel being interviewed. Questions... Questions... Let us see how this gets played out in the next few days.

An omission now rectified:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../wbhutto130.xml

The interviewee is "Dr. Safdar Abbassi, her chief political adviser, who was sitting behind her."

Not a hint of shot from within Bhutto's vehicle, of course, but then not a mention of the fact that Bhutto had to be transferred to another car from the motorcade en route to hospital. For that minor detail, see Sherry Rehman's interview with CNN anchor Stephen Frazier at this link:

Thanks Paul for providing a link to one more witness account that Bhutto was shot in the head or neck and NOT in the chest or abdomen.

“Dr Abbassi leant forward to see what was wrong. At first glance, she appeared to have escaped injury. Then he noticed the blood. It was seeping from a deep wound on the left side of her neck.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../wbhutto130.xml

Here’s another from “Raw Story” a site I’m not familiar with:

“On Friday, doctors at Rawalpindi General Hospital, where she died, said that Bhutto had been killed by shrapnel to the head from an explosion, not by two bullets that Bhutto supporters cited in the aftermath of the attack.”

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/New_suspicio..._over_1229.html

A reporter for “Telegraph TV” made the same claim:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/popup/tt...ctid=1358639196

The AP reported that:

“Authorities initially said Bhutto died from bullet wounds. A surgeon who treated her later said the impact from shrapnel on her skull killed her.”

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2007/12/28/4742858-ap.html

The “Raw Story” article cited a McClatchyNewspapers story regarding the lack of an autopsy:

"Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Mohammadmian Soomro, told the Cabinet that Bhutto's husband had insisted on no autopsy. But according to a leading lawyer, Athar Minallah, an autopsy is mandatory under Pakistan's criminal law in a case of this nature.

"It is absurd, because without autopsy it is not possible to investigate. Is the state not interested in reaching the perpetrators of this heinous crime or there was a cover-up?" Minallah said."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/23884.html

But things might not b so simple as Minallah made out, according to “The Raw Story” article:

“Autopsies are generally not conducted in Islam unless ordered by a court, because the religion calls for burial as quickly as possible.”

The McClatchy article contained yet another with account of injuries to Bhutto’s head and/or neck but nothing about her chest or abdomen:

“Babar Awan, a senior official of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, said of the sunroof theory: "That is a false claim." He said he'd seen her body after the attack and there were at least two bullet marks, one in the neck and one on the top of the head:”

So I guess Awan, and Rehman (who Paul cited), and the three people we know were in the car (who were cited by Naik Paul's only source for the Bhutto was shot in the abdomen claim) and presumably the driver as well and the doctors from the hospital and Bhutto's husband were all in on it

Paul your theory that she was shot by the occupants of her car is about as legless as your theory Mir Amal Kasi wasn’t the CIA shooter

Edited December 31, 2007 by Len Colby