Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was Assassinated - 2007 Crime Magazine by Michael Thomas Barry On December 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan and the first democratically elected female leader of a Muslim country was assassinated. A polarizing figure at home and abroad, Bhutto had spent three decades struggling to stay afloat in the murky waters of Pakistani politics. To many of her supporters, she represented the strongest hope for democratic and egalitarian leadership in a country unhinged by political corruption and Islamic extremism. Born in 1953 to a wealthy landowning family, Bhutto grew up in the privileged world of Pakistan’s political elite, receiving degrees from Harvard and Oxford. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the populist-leaning Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1967. He then served as president and prime minister from 1971 to 1977, when he was ousted in a bloodless military coup led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and charged with authorizing a political opponent’s murder.

Her father’s overthrow and subsequent execution in April 1979 thrust a young Benazir Bhutto into the political spotlight. She and her mother, Nusrat, whom she succeeded in 1982 as the PPP’s chairperson, spent several years in and out of detention for protesting her father’s arrest and actively campaigned against General Zia. In August 1988, Zia died in a plane crash; three months later, Bhutto won the general election and formed a government, becoming the first woman, and, at 35, the youngest person to head a Muslim state in modern times. Dismissed in 1990 after less than half a term as prime minister, she was reelected in 1993 and served again until 1996. Both times, she was removed from office by the sitting president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990 and Farooq Leghari in 1996, amid charges of corruption and incompetent governance.

After her second dismissal from office, Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, faced allegations of various forms of financial misconduct, including accepting multimillion-dollar kickbacks and laundering money through Swiss banks. Zardari spent eight years in prison, while Bhutto lived in exile in London and Dubai with the couple’s three children. In 2007, under pressure from Bhutto’s supporters within the U.S. government, President Pervez Musharraf granted amnesty to Bhutto, Zardari and other Pakistani politicians with pending graft charges. On October 18th of that year, despite a spate of death threats from Islamic militants, Bhutto returned to Pakistan with plans to participate in the 2008 general election. On the day of her arrival, she narrowly escaped a suicide bomb attack on her convoy that killed at least 136 people and injured more than 450. On December 27, 2007, as Bhutto was waving to a crowd at a PPP rally in Rawalpindi, a gunman opened fire on her bulletproof vehicle.

A bomb then exploded near the car, killing more than 20 people and wounding 100 others, including Bhutto. She was pronounced dead later that night and buried the next day in her hometown of Gardi Khuda Bakhsh, next to her father's grave. The exact cause of her death remains in dispute: A subsequent investigation by Britain's Scotland Yard ruled that Bhutto died of head injuries caused by the force of the explosion, while the PPP maintained that she died from gunshot wounds. Bhutto’s death sparked widespread violence across Pakistan, with riots and demonstrations leading to violent police crackdowns. The political turmoil caused international fears of instability in a nuclear-armed nation already embroiled in a fight against Islamic extremists. In the weeks and months following Bhutto's death, Pakistani moderates and Western leaders waited anxiously to see who would emerge as her successor. Zardari, who had taken the helm of the PPP after his wife’s assassination, was elected president of Pakistan in September 2008. In the month following Bhutto’s murder, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistani officials named Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistani militant with links to al-Qaeda, as the mastermind behind the assassination.

Mehsud, who denied the charge, was killed in a U.S. drone attack in August 2009. Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California 1849-1949. The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following link: Bhutto Assassination Throws Pakistan Into Chaos | Fox News Bhutto Assassination Throws Pakistan Into Chaos Published December 27, 2007 Facebook 0 Twitter 0 Email Print RAWALPINDI, Pakistan – Enraged crowds rioted across Pakistan and hopes for democracy hung by a thread after Benazir Bhutto was gunned down Thursday as she waved to supporters from the sunroof of her armored vehicle. The death of President Pervez Musharraf's most powerful opponent threw the nation into chaos just 12 days before elections, and threatened its already unsteady role as a key fighter against Islamic terror. • FOX Facts: Benazir Bhutto • Click here to view photos of Bhutto. • Click here to view photos of the blast (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT).

The murder of Bhutto, one of Pakistan's most famous and enduring politicians, sparked violence that killed at least nine people and plunged efforts to restore democracy to this nuclear-armed U.S. ally into turmoil. Another opposition politician, Nawaz Sharif, announced he was boycotting Jan. 8 parliamentary elections in which Bhutto was hoping to recapture the premiership, and Musharraf reportedly weighed canceling the poll. Bhutto, 54, was struck down amid scenes of blood and chaos as an unknown gunman opened fire and, according to witnesses and police, blew himself up, killing 20 other people. Musharraf blamed Islamic terrorists, pledging in a nationally televised speech that "we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out." President Bush, who spoke briefly by phone with Musharraf, looked tense as he spoke to reporters, denouncing the "murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy." U.S. officials in Washington said they were trying to determine who might have carried out the attack. • Bush: Assassins 'Must Be Brought to Justice' • 2 U.S.

Lawmakers Advised by State Department to Leave Pakistan, Were to Meet Bhutto Bhutto's death marked yet another grim chapter in Pakistan's bloodstained history, 28 years after her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, another ex-prime minister, was hanged by a military dictatorship in the same northern city where she was killed. Her death left her Pakistan People's Party leaderless and plunged the Muslim nation of 160 million into violence and recriminations, with Bhutto supporters accusing Musharraf's government of failing to protect her in the wake of death threats and previous attempts on her life. As the news spread, supporters gathered at the hospital where Bhutto had been taken, smashed glass doors, stoned cars and chanted, "Killer, Killer, Musharraf." At least nine people were killed in violence across the nation. Musharraf called senior staff into an emergency meeting to discuss a response to the killing and whether to postpone the election, an Interior Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Musharraf also announced three days of mourning for Bhutto, with all businesses, schools and banks to close.

• FOX411: Bhutto's Last Words • TIMES OF LONDON: Who Killed Bhutto — The Main Suspects The killing appeared to shut off a possible avenue for a credible return to democracy after eight years under Musharraf's increasingly unpopular rule, and left a string of unanswered questions, chiefly whether it could strengthen Musharraf by eliminating a strong rival, or weaken him by sparking uncontrollable riots. The U.S. was struggling to reformulate its plan to stabilize the country based on a rapprochement between Bhutto and Musharraf. Bhutto had returned in October after nearly a decade in exile hoping for a power-sharing deal with Musharraf, but had become his fierce critic, accusing elements in the ruling party of backing militants to kill her. Pakistani analysts were plunged into gloom. "This assassination is the most serious setback for democracy in Pakistan," said Rasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist at Lahore's University of Management Sciences.

"It shows extremists are powerful enough to disrupt the democratic process." Analyst Talat Masood, a retired general, said: "Conditions in the country have reached a point where it is too dangerous for political parties to operate." Sharif, another former premier who now leads an opposition party, demanded Musharraf resign immediately and announced his party would boycott the elections, seen as vital to restoring democracy. He also called for the resignation of Musharraf, a former army chief who toppled Sharif in a 1999 coup. "Musharraf is the cause of all the problems. The federation of Pakistan cannot remain intact in the presence of President Musharraf," he said. • Click to watch live streaming video from DAWN TV Next to Musharraf, Bhutto was the best known political figure in the country, serving two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996. An instantly recognizable figure with graceful features under an ever-present head scarf, she bore the legacy of her hanged father and was respected in the West for her liberal outlook and determination to combat Islamic extremism. It was a theme she had often returned to in recent campaign speeches.

Addressing more than 5,000 supporters Thursday in Rawalpindi, Bhutto dismissed the notion that Pakistan needed foreigners to help quell resurgent militants linked to the Taliban and Al Qaeda 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. As Bhutto left the rally in a white SUV, youths chanted her name and supportive slogans, said Sardar Qamar Hayyat, an official from Bhutto's party who was about 10 yards away. Despite the danger of physical exposure, a smiling Bhutto stuck her head out of the sunroof and responded, he said. "Then I saw a thin young man jumping toward her vehicle from the back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speeding vehicle going away. That was the time when I heard a blast and fell down," he said. Bhutto was rushed into surgery. A doctor on the surgical team said a bullet in the back of her neck damaged her spinal cord before exiting from the side of her head.

Another bullet pierced the back of her shoulder and came out through her chest, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. She was given an open-heart massage, but the spinal cord damage was too great, he said. "At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital. Hours later, supporters carried Bhutto's body out of the hospital in a plain wooden coffin and sent it for burial in her ancestral home near the southern city of Larkana. Bhutto, who was married with three children, had returned to Pakistan from nearly a decade in exile on Oct. 18, and her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, who killed more than 140 people. She narrowly escaped injury. Rawalpindi, a former capital, has a history of political violence. The park where Bhutto made her last speech is the same one where the country's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was shot to death in 1951. It is named after him. Musharraf survived two bombing attacks here in 2003.

Earlier that year, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was captured in Rawalpindi. In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in the city. Bhutto's father was hanged in 1979 in Rawalpindi on charges of conspiracy to murder -- an execution that led to violent protests across the country similar to those that raged Thursday. Thursday's rally was Bhutto's first since returning to Pakistan, Musharraf having forced her to scrap a meeting here last month citing security fears. Hundreds of riot police manned security checkpoints at the park. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who met with Bhutto just hours before her death, called her a brave woman with a clear vision "for her own country, for Afghanistan and for the region -- a vision of democracy and prosperity and peace." Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., visiting Pakistan with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he was just leaving his hotel room for dinner with Bhutto at her home when he got the news. "I couldn't believe it," he told The Associated Press by phone.

"Her death really dashed the hope of many here in Pakistan and that's why there's so much disillusionment and anger being vented through these protests that are lighting up the sky tonight as people set fires all over the countryside." U.S. intelligence agencies said it was to soon to say who carried out the attack. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the agency "continues to work with our U.S. intelligence community partners reviewing the Al Qaeda claims for responsibility for any intelligence value.

The validity of those claims are undetermined." Benazir Bhutto death: Pakistan ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf charged with 2007 murder of prime minister | The Independent Asia Benazir Bhutto death: Pakistan ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf charged with 2007 murder of prime minister Decision by marks the first time Musharraf, or any former army chief in Pakistan, has been charged with a crime Tuesday 20 August 2013 05:41 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Pervez Musharraf, left, has been charged with the murder of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, right Reuters Authorities in Pakistan have formally charged the country's former military ruler over the murder of Benazir Bhutto, who twice served as prime minister and was assassinated while campaigning to secure a third term. In the latest set-back to former dictator Pervez Musharraf, the one-time army chief was today indicted on three counts over the murder of Ms Bhutto, who died in a gun and suicide attack in December 2007.

The move to bring charges against a former army chief is unprecedented in a country ruled for more than half of its life by the military. The charges relate to one of a series of cases that Mr Musharraf has faced since returning from self-imposed exile earlier this year. He seized power in a coup in 1999 and was forced out in 2008 following an election won by Ms Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party. “He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder and facilitation for murder,” public prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told AFP at the anti-terrorism court hearing the case in Rawalpindi. Mr Musharraf, 69, who was reportedly bundled into the court amid high security, denied the charges and the case was adjourned until 27 August. He has been under house arrest at his home on the edge of the capital, Islamabad, since April 19. Officials had said threats against his life were too severe earlier earlier this month for him to appear in court to face the charges. “The charges were read out to him in the court. He denied the charges,” said Mr Azhar.

“The case has been adjourned until 27 August for evidence to be brought.” Mr Musharraf's legal team dismissed the indictment. “These charges are baseless. We are not afraid of the proceedings. We will follow legal procedures in the court,” said his lawyer, Syeda Afshan Adil. Scores of security forces guarded the area around the court in Rawalpindi, the city where Ms Bhutto was killed on 27 December, 2007, and roads were sealed off Mr Musharraf's appearance. The indictment follows speculation about the possibility of a behind-the-scenes deal that could allow the former military chief to leave Pakistan without facing the courts and embarrassing the military. There was no public claim of responsibility for her murder. Mr Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. The Bhutto case is one in a series of court battles that Mr Musharraf has faced over allegations dating back to his 1999-2008 rule, since he returned in March from four years of self-imposed exile.

AFP said the new government headed by Nawaz Sharif, who Musharraf deposed in 1999, believes he should stand trial for treason for subverting the constitution and has appointed a committee to investigate him. The offence carries the death penalty or life imprisonment. Mr Musharraf was arrested after returning from exile to stand in the May elections won by Mr Sharif. He was barred from running for parliament because of the legal allegations against him. He is also wanted over the death of Baluchistan rebel leader Nawab Akbar Bugti during a military operation in 2006. More about: Bhutto Assassination Sparks Chaos Bhutto Assassination Sparks Chaos Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, December 28, 2007 RAWALPINDI, Pakistan , Dec. 27 -- Benazir Bhutto, for decades the central figure in a tortured struggle to bring democratic rule to Pakistan, was assassinated Thursday afternoon as she waved to supporters after a political rally, plunging the country into new turmoil just days before scheduled elections.

The death of the former prime minister creates a massive political void in this nuclear-armed nation of 165 million people and opens the door to potentially greater violence in a year of almost nonstop tumult here. It leaves in tatters Washington's strategy of fighting extremism by pairing Bhutto with President Pervez Musharraf, a close U.S. ally who has been under siege in the streets for months. Around the world Thursday, government leaders pleaded with Bhutto's countrymen to remain calm. In Texas, President Bush urged the Pakistani people "to honor Benazir Bhutto's memory by continuing with the democratic process for which she so bravely gave her life." There was no immediate assertion of responsibility for the killing. Musharraf, who addressed the nation on television, condemned the assassination and blamed Islamic extremists. He declared three days of national mourning. But Bhutto's supporters pinned responsibility on allies of Musharraf, the former chief of the army. Partisans of the slain leader rioted in cities and towns across the country, burning police cars, looting shops and firing guns. Thursday night, grieving supporters carried Bhutto's body in a plain wooden coffin from the hospital where she had been declared dead.

Her body was taken to an airport and was being flown to her family's ancestral home in the Larkana district of southern Pakistan for burial at an as-yet-unannounced time. Musharraf was closeted with advisers late Thursday, debating strategy. It was unclear whether the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections for which Bhutto was campaigning when she was killed would proceed; at least one major party vowed to boycott the vote. "If there's a lot more violence, then it's possible the whole democratic process will be derailed," political analyst Hasan-Askari Rizvi said. Other observers saw glimmers of conciliation. "This can turn into anarchy," said Talat Masood, a retired general and political analyst. "Or it can turn into something Benazir Bhutto could not achieve in life but may achieve in death. It could provide the momentum needed for a return to the rule of law and democracy. It could go either way." Bhutto, 54, led one of Pakistan's most important political families. She had many fans but also persistent critics who accused her of corruption and derided her position in her party: chairperson for life.

She narrowly survived a similar assassination attempt just two months ago, when attackers killed more than 140 people in coordinated blasts targeting a homecoming procession shortly after she returned from eight years of exile. Since then, she had been campaigning across the country, hoping to win for a third time the job of prime minister, saying all the while that she knew she was likely to be attacked again. Thursday's strike came at dusk, in a public park where another Pakistani prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was assassinated in 1951. A few miles away is the site of the prison, now demolished, where Bhutto's father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was confined. He was president from 1971 to 1973 and then prime minister until 1977, when he was hanged by the military-led government that deposed him. Benazir Bhutto, wearing a white head scarf, addressed a rally in the park, then got into her bulletproof sport-utility vehicle.

She was being driven out of the park when she asked that the vehicle's sunroof be opened so she could bid thousands of supporters farewell, according to witnesses and several aides, including one who had been sitting next to her. CONTINUED 1 Headlines for December 27, 2007 | Democracy Now! Ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto Assassinated HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated just two months after returning to Pakistan from exile. She died after an apparent suicide attack in the city of Rawalpindi. She had just addressed an election rally when gunfire and an explosion occurred. Listen/Watch full segment US Special Forces to Expand Presence in Pakistan HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 In other news on Pakistan, the Washington Post reports US Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan beginning in early 2008. The US troops will reportedly take part in an effort to train and support Pakistani counterinsurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units. While the US expands its presence in Pakistan, questions are being raised over how Pakistan has spent $5 billion in US aid sent since the Sept.

11 attacks. According to the New York Times, the money was supposed to have been spent to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban. But now US officials are admitting that funds were diverted to help finance weapons systems designed to counter India, another US ally. Musharraf and Karzai Hold Talks in Pakistan HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 On Wednesday, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf met with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai. Karzai said more needs to be done to stop pro-Taliban militants from Pakistan crossing into Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai: "There is reduced activity, sir, on the Afghan side, as unfortunately there is an increased activity now on the Pakistani side." Musharraf said Pakistan and Afghanistan need to improve intelligence sharing. Gen. Pervez Musharraf: "The key to fighting, to enhancing our capability against terrorists and extremists is intelligence cooperation. That’s the key. The two intelligence agencies on both sides must cooperate more strongly if we are to deal with terrorists and extremists more effectively." In other news from Afghanistan, two European diplomats accused of making contacts with the Taliban have been forced to leave the country. The Afghan government accused the pair of posing a threat to national security.

Michael Semple is the acting head of the EU mission in Afghanistan. Mervyn Patterson is a high-ranking British UN employee. Bush Signs Spending Bill Including $70B for Iraq War HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 On Wednesday, President Bush signed a $555 billion spending bill that includes $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Democratic-led Congress passed the spending bill without including a time line for troop withdrawal from Iraq. Turkey Praises US for Proving Intel on Northern Iraq HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 Turkey has publicly praised the Bush administration for providing intelligence to help Turkey bomb Kurdish regions in northern Iraq. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said, "Things are going on well at the moment. Intelligence is being shared." Turkey says the air strikes have targeted rebels from the PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Meanwhile, the Turkish Daily News reports Turkey will soon be using Israeli-made unmanned drones over northern Iraq. According to the paper, personnel from the state-run Israeli company Aerospace Industries will assist the Turkish army in using the Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

UNICEF: 25,000 Iraqi Children Displaced Each Month HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 A new report from UNICEF has found an average of 25,000 Iraqi children per month were displaced within Iraq by violence or intimidation during 2007. An estimated 760,000 children were out of primary school in 2006, and 220,000 more displaced children had their educations interrupted in 2007. UNICEF also found that 80 percent of children outside Baghdad don’t have working sewers in their communities, limiting access to safe water. Senate Democrats Block Recess Appointment of Author of Torture Memo HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are attempting to block President Bush from giving a recess appointment to a government attorney who authored two of the Bush administration’s secret torture memos. The Senate is usually in recess this week, but on Wednesday the Senate held a nine-second session in order to prevent Bush from promoting Steven Bradbury to become the chief of the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Council.

Bradbury is currently the acting chief, but his nomination has not been approved by the Senate. In 2005, Bradbury signed two secret memos approving the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation techniques. Housing Prices Plummet by Over Six Percent HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 In economic news, prices of existing single-family homes are dropping at near record levels, suggesting the housing slump is far from over. According to one study, prices of homes dropped over six percent between October 2006 and 2007. The biggest declines were in Miami and Tampa, where prices fell over 11 percent. Economist Robert Shiller said this is the biggest drop in housing prices since 1941. The Washington Times reports foreclosures and price drops are now the largest since the Great Depression. Investment Banks Dole out Record $30 Billion in Bonuses HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 Meanwhile, investment bankers are celebrating on Wall Street. Four of the country’s largest banks — Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns — are expected to dole out an estimated $30 billion in bonuses this year.

The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, is receiving a record $68 million bonus. Last month housing advocates called on the nation’s largest investment banks to donate their holiday bonuses to a foreclosure prevention fund that will help prevent a new wave of foreclosures. None of the banks agreed to help set up the fund. Teenager Dies after Cigna Refused to Pay for Transplant HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 A California family is seeking murder or manslaughter charges against the health insurance company CIGNA following the death of seventeen-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan. On December 11, doctors at UCLA determined Sarkisyan needed a liver transplant. But CIGNA refused to pay for the transplant, saying the procedure was experimental and outside the scope of coverage. After ten days of refusing to cover the transplant, CIGNA bowed to public pressure and agreed to cover the costs of the surgery. But Nataline’s family said by then it was too late. The teenager died less than an hour after CIGNA reversed its decision. The family’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said he plans to ask the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to consider manslaughter or murder charges against CIGNA.

Geragos said CIGNA signed the girl’s "death warrant" by delaying approval for a transplant. EEOC Rules Employers Can Eliminate Health Benefits for Retirees at 65 HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that employers can reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn sixty-five and become eligible for Medicare. The ruling could affect more than ten million retirees who rely on employer-sponsored health plans as a primary source of coverage or as a supplement to Medicare. The AARP criticized the ruling. AARP attorney Christopher Mackaronis said, “This rule gives employers free rein to use age as a basis for reducing or eliminating healthcare benefits for retirees sixty-five and older." Deans of Journalism Schools Warn against Media Consolidation HeadlinesDec 27, 2007 And a group of deans from some of the most prominent journalism schools in the country are encouraging journalists to speak out against last week’s FCC ruling allowing cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcasting stations. In an opinion piece in the New York Times, the deans said the future of the profession of journalism and its public mission is at stake.

The deans write, "We do not believe that the market can be absolutely trusted to provide the local news gathering that the American system needs to function at its best." The deans warned that deregulation has led to cutbacks in newsrooms across the country. "Television and radio stations generally have smaller news staffs today than they did in the era before deregulation," they wrote. "That represents a real loss for American democracy." The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us. Daily News Digest Pakistan's Bhutto assassinated - World news - South and Central Asia - Pakistan | NBC News + - NAUDERO, Pakistan — The body of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto arrived in her family village for burial on Friday, hours after her assassination plunged the nuclear-armed country into one of the worst crises in its 60-year history.

Enraged crowds rioted across Pakistan and hopes for democracy hung by a thread after the former prime minister was gunned down as she waved to supporters from the sunroof of her armored vehicle. The death of President Pervez Musharraf's most powerful opponent threw the nation into chaos just 12 days before elections and threatened its already unsteady role as a key fighter against Islamic terror. The murder of Bhutto, one of Pakistan's most famous and enduring politicians, sparked violence that killed at least nine people and plunged efforts to restore democracy to this nuclear-armed U.S. ally into turmoil. Another opposition politician, Nawaz Sharif, announced he was boycotting Jan. 8 parliamentary elections in which Bhutto was hoping to recapture the premiership, and Musharraf reportedly weighed canceling the poll. In Islamabad and Washington, U.S. diplomats urged that the elections should not be postponed and strongly advised against a reimposition of emergency rule that Musharraf had lifted just weeks ago. Bhutto, a former prime minister, was struck down amid scenes of blood and chaos as an unknown gunman opened fire and, according to witnesses and police, blew himself up, killing 20 other people.

Advertise Musharraf blamed Islamic terrorists, pledging in a nationally televised speech that "we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out." President Bush, who spoke briefly by phone with Musharraf, looked tense as he spoke to reporters, denouncing the "murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy." Bhutto's death closed yet another grim chapter in Pakistan's bloodstained history, 28 years after her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, another ex-prime minister, was hanged by a military dictatorship in the same northern city where she was killed. Her death left her Pakistan People's Party leaderless and plunged the Muslim nation of 150 million into violence and recriminations, with Musharraf blaming Muslim extremists and Bhutto supporters accusing his government of failing to protect her in the wake of death threats and previous attempts on her life. As the news of Bhutto's death spread, supporters gathered at the hospital where she had been taken, smashed glass doors, stoned cars and chanted, "Killer, Killer, Musharraf." At least nine people were killed in the violence across the nation.

Musharraf called senior staff into an emergency meeting to discuss a response to the killing and whether to postpone the election, an Interior Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Musharraf also announced three days of mourning for Bhutto, with all businesses, schools and banks to close. The killing appeared to shut off a possible avenue for a credible return to democracy after eight years under Musharraf's increasingly unpopular rule, and left a string of unanswered questions, chiefly whether it could strengthen Musharraf by eliminating a strong rival, or weaken him by sparking uncontrollable riots. The U.S. was struggling to reformulate its plan to stabilize the country based on a rapprochement between Bhutto and Musharraf. Bhutto had returned in October after nearly a decade in exile hoping for a power-sharing deal with Musharraf, but had become his fierce critic, accusing elements in the ruling party of backing militants to kill her. Pakistani analysts see gloom "This assassination is the most serious setback for democracy in Pakistan," said Rasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist at Lahore's University of Management Sciences.

"It shows extremists are powerful enough to disrupt the democratic process." Analyst Talat Masood, a retired general, said: "Conditions in the country have reached a point where it is too dangerous for political parties to operate." Sharif, another former premier who now leads an opposition party, demanded Musharraf resign immediately and announced his party would boycott the elections, seen as vital to restoring democracy after eight years of authoritarian rule under Musharraf. Sharif also called for the resignation of Musharraf, a former army chief who toppled Sharif in a 1999 coup. Advertise Rawalpindi, a garrison city and former capital, has a history of political violence. The park where Bhutto made her last speech is the same one where the country's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was shot to death in 1951. It is named after him. President Pervez Musharraf survived two bombing attacks in Rawalpindi in 2003. Earlier that year, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was captured in Rawalpindi. In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi.

Bhutto's father was hanged in 1979 in Rawalpindi on charges of conspiracy to murder — an execution that led to violent protests across the country similar to those that raged across the country Thursday. Hopes dashed for democracy Thursday's rally was Bhutto's first since returning to Pakistan, Musharraf having forced her to scrap a previous meeting here last month citing security fears. Hundreds of riot police manned security checkpoints at the park. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who met with Bhutto just hours before her death, called her a brave woman with a clear vision "for her own country, for Afghanistan and for the region — a vision of democracy and prosperity and peace." Aamir Qureshi / AFP-Getty Images Benazir Bhutto waves to supporters as she arrives for an election compaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She and at least 20 others were killed as the rally ended. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., visiting Pakistan with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he was just leaving his hotel room for dinner with Bhutto at her home when he got the news. "I couldn't believe it," he told The Associated Press by phone.

"Her death really dashed the hope of many here in Pakistan, and that's why there's so much disillusionment and anger being vented through these protests that are lighting up the sky tonight as people set fires all over the countryside." One man was killed in a shootout between police and protesters in Tando Allahyar, a town 120 miles north of Karachi, Pakistan's commercial hub, said Mayor Kanwar Naveed. Four others were killed in Karachi, two were killed elsewhere in the southern Sindh province and two in Lahore, police said. Karachi shopkeepers quickly shuttered their stores as protesters burned vehicles, a gas station and tires on the roads, said Fayyaz Leghri, a local police official. Gunmen shot and wounded two police officers, he said. Bhutto's supporters in many towns burned banks, shops and state-run grocery stores. Some torched ruling party election offices, according to Pakistani media. Authorities would deploy troops to stop violence if needed, said Akhtar Zamin, home minister for Sindh province. The U.N. Security Council vigorously denounced the killing and urged "all Pakistanis to exercise restraint and maintain stability in the country." The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

A Timeline of Pakistan History A Timeline of Pakistan History ca 1500 B.C. The Aryans came into the Punjab region. ca 500s B.C. The Persians conquered the Punjab and made it part of the Achaemenid Empire. 526 B.C. Alexander the Great took control of most of what is now Pakistan. ca 230 B.C. Greeks from the independent state of Bactria invaded the Indus Valley. ca 100 B.C. Scythians from Afghanistan came into Baluchistan and Sind. ca 50 to mid-200s A.D. The Kushans ruled what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwestern India . mid-300s The Indus Valley became part of the Gupta Empire. mid-400s Huns from central Asia conquered the empire. 711 Arab Muslims invaded Sind. ca 1000 Turkish Muslims invaded northern Pakistan from Iran . 1206 Most of what is now Pakistan became part of the Delhi Sultanate. 1526 Babar , a Muslim ruler from Afghanistan, invaded India and established the Mogul Empire.

1740s The East India Company gained political control over much of India. 1858 The British government took over control of the East India Company. All the company's territory became known as British India. 1875 Syed Admad Khan founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (now Aligarh Muslim University) in Aligarh. 1906 The Muslim League was formed. 1940 The Muslim League demanded partition of India along religious lines. 1947 Britain and Hindu leaders agreed to the partition. August 14, 1947 Pakistan became an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations . 1948-1949 India and Pakistan went to war over Kashmir. 1948 Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's first head of state, died. 1951 Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan was assassinated. 1956 Pakistan became a republic. October 7, 1958 President Iskander Mirza suspended the 1956 Constitution, imposed martial law, and canceled the elections scheduled for January 1959.

October 27, 1958 President Mirza was sent into exile and General Mohammad Ayub Khan assumed control of a military dictatorship. 1967 The Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River was completed. 1969 General Khan resigned as leader of Pakistan and handed control of the government to General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan . 1970 A cyclone and tidal wave struck East Pakistan, killing about 200,000 persons. March 26, 1971 East Pakistan declared itself an independent nation called Bangladesh . December 1971 Yahya Khan resigned the presidency and handed over leadership of West Pakistan to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. 1973 President Bhutto promulgated a new Constitution. 1975 The Tarbela Dam on the Indus River was completed. July 5, 1977 The military removed Bhutto from power and arrested him, declared martial law, and suspended portions of the 1973 Constitution. Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq took control of the government. 1979 Pakistan formally joined the Non-Aligned Movement.

April 6, 1979 Bhutto was executed for crimes committed during his presidency. August 17, 1988 A plane carrying President Zia, American Ambassador Arnold Raphael, U.S. Brigadier General Herbert Wassom, and 28 Pakistani military officers crashed near Bahawalpur, killing all of its occupants. Chairman of the Senate Ghulam Ishaq Khan became Acting President. November 1988 Benazir Bhutto formed a coalition government with several smaller parties. August 1990 President Khan dismissed the Bhutto government and dissolved the national and provincial assemblies. October 1990 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was elected Prime Minister by the National Assembly. April 1993 President Khan dismissed the Sharif government. May 1993 The Pakistan Supreme Court reinstated the Sharif government. July 1993 President Khan and Prime Minister Sharif both resigned their offices. Moeen Qureshi took office as head of an interim government. October 1993 Benazir Bhutto was elected Prime Minister. November 1993 Farooq Leghari was elected President.

November 1996 President Leghari dismissed the Bhutto government. February 1997 Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister. March 1997 The National Assembly amended the Constitution to strip the President of the power to dismiss the government. December 1997 President Leghari resigned; he was replaced by Rafiq Tarar. October 12, 1999 The army deposed Sharif. October 14, 1999 Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf declared himself Chief Executive. May 12, 2000 The Supreme Court unanimously validated the October 1999 coup and granted Musharraf executive and legislative authority for three years from the coup date. June 20, 2001 Musharraf named himself as President and was sworn in. November 2003 Pakistan declared a Kashmir ceasefire; India followed suit. June 2004 Pakistan mounted its first military offensive against suspected Al-Qaeda militants and their supporters in tribal areas near the Afghan border. October 2007 Ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto returned from exile.

November 2007 Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile. December 2007 Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi. August 2008 President Musharraf resigned after the two main governing parties agreed to launch impeachment proceedings against him. September 2008 Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, was elected President. April 2011 The founder of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, was killed by American special forces in Abbottabad. Benazir Bhutto assassinated - CNN.com Benazir Bhutto assassinated Pakistan's former PM Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Rawalpindi after rally NEW: Interior Ministry says Bhutto died from gunshot wound to the neck NEW: Body being flown to Sukkur, accompanied by husband and her three children Three days of national mourning; Police fear violent backlash RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday after addressing a large gathering of her supporters. The bomb explodes near Bhutto's vehicle following a political rally in Rawalpindi.

more photos » Bhutto died of a gunshot wound to the neck, the Pakistani Interior Ministry said. The attacker then blew himself up. The bomb attack killed at least 22 others, doctors said. Video of the scene just moments before the explosion showed Bhutto stepping into a heavily guarded vehicle to leave the rally. Watch how the tragedy unfolded » John Moore, a photographer for Getty Images, said Bhutto was standing through the sunroof of her vehicle, waving to supporters, when two shots rang out. Bhutto fell back into the vehicle, and almost immediately a bomb blast rocked the scene, sending twisting metal and shrapnel into the crowd, he added. Police sources told CNN the bomber, who was riding a motorcycle, blew himself up near Bhutto's vehicle. Watch aftermath of the attack. Bhutto was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital -- less than two miles from the bombing scene -- where doctors pronounced her dead. Her body was removed from the hospital -- carried above a crowd of supporters -- late Thursday night, and a Pakistan Air Force plane is flying the body to Sukkur, accompanied by her husband and three children, said Pakistan People's Party leader Sen. Safdar Abbasi.

Bhutto is scheduled to be buried in the ancestral graveyard of the Bhutto family at Gari-Khuda Baksh in Sindh province Friday afternoon, he added. Chaos erupted at the hospital when former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived to pay his respects to Bhutto less than three hours after her death. Hundreds of Bhutto supporters crammed into the entrance shouted and cried, some clutching their heads in pain and shock. Sharif called it "the saddest day" in Pakistan's history. "Something unthinkable has happened," he said. see full schedule » Sharif said his party will boycott Pakistan's January 8 parliamentary elections in the wake of the assassination. President Pervez Musharraf said the killers were the same extremists that Pakistan is fighting a war against, and announced three days of national mourning. Police warned citizens to stay home as they expected rioting to break out in city streets in reaction to the death. Rioters burned tires and blocked roads in Karachi and other cities, police sources said. Police fired on an angry mob, killing two people, in the city of Khairpur in the Sindh province, Geo TV reported.

Bhutto's husband issued a statement from his home in Dubai saying, "All I can say is we're devastated, it's a total shock." He arrived in Pakistan late Thursday. President Bush said those responsible "must be brought to justice" and praised Bhutto as a woman who had "fought the forces of terror." He said: "She refused to allow assassins to dictate the course of her country." The number of wounded was not immediately known. However, video of the scene showed ambulances lined up to take many to hospitals. Don't Miss I-Report: Your condolences The assassination happened in Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh Park, named for Pakistan's first prime minister -- Liaquat Ali Khan -- who was assassinated in the same location in 1951. The attack came just hours after 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 Thursday, Pakistan police said. Several other members of Sharif's party were wounded, police said.

Bhutto, who led Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and was the first female prime minister of any Islamic nation, was participating in the parliamentary election set for January 8, hoping for a third term. A terror attack targeting her motorcade in Karachi killed 136 people on the day she returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile. View timeline. » CNN's Mohsin Naqvi, who was at the scene of both bombings, said Thursday's blast was not as powerful as that October attack. Thursday's attacks come less than two weeks after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf lifted an emergency declaration he said was necessary to secure his country from terrorists. Bhutto had been critical of what she believed was a lack of effort by Musharraf's government to protect her. Two weeks after the October assassination attempt, she wrote a commentary for CNN.com in which she questioned why Pakistan investigators refused international offers of help in finding the attackers. "The sham investigation of the October 19 massacre and the attempt by the ruling party to politically capitalize on this catastrophe are discomforting, but do not suggest any direct involvement by General Pervez Musharraf," Bhutto wrote.

E-mail to a friend CNN's Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this report Benazir Bhutto Biography (Prime Minister of Pakistan) Prime Minister of Pakistan Died: 27 December 2007 (assassination) Birthplace: Karachi, Pakistan Best known as: The first female prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was twice prime minister of Pakistan, and was campaigning for a return to power when she was assassinated in December of 2007. Benazir Bhutto was born into a political family: her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was Pakistan's prime minister from 1973-77. She earned undergraduate degrees from Radcliffe College (1973) in the U.S. and Oxford (1976) in England before returning to Pakistan. Her father was deposed, imprisoned, and finally executed after a 1977 military coup; Benazir Bhutto herself was imprisoned repeatedly before leaving for exile in London. She became active in her father's political party, the liberal Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and returned to Pakistan in 1986.

Bhutto's political pedigree, her glamorous looks, and her reformist attitude were a potent combination, and in 1988 she was elected prime minister. For the next decade she was one of the most prominent women in the world, and was seen in particular as a symbol of progress in women's rights. Bhutto's two terms as prime minister (1988-90 and 1993-96) both ended in controversy, with charges of corruption against Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. Bhutto was again forced into exile in 1999 before returning in October of 2007 to lead her party in upcoming national elections. Two months later she was shot and killed at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi by an attacker who then blew himself up. The United Nations launched an investigation of her killing in July of 2009, after little progress was made in Pakistan; the UN report said that security arrangements by Pakistan federal and local authorities to protect her were "fatally insufficient and ineffective" and that Pakistani officials "failed profoundly...

to investigate with vigour all those responsible for her murder." Extra credit: Benazir Bhutto’s books include “Foreign Policy in Perspective (1978) and the autobiography Daughter of Destiny (1989)… Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari were married in 1987. They had three children: Bilawal, Bakhtwar and Aseefa. In 2012, Biliwal (b. 1988) “launched his political career with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother’s assassination,” according to the Associated Press… Benazir Bhutto’s brother Murtaza, a Pakistani politician, was assassinated in 1996; another brother, Shahnawaz, was found dead in his apartment in France in 1985… Some sources list her 1973 degree as being from Harvard; at that time Radcliffe was an all-women’s college closely related to Harvard, and the two schools merged in 1999. Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.

Question: Which ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan was assassinated in December 2007?
Answer: Benazir Bhutto