WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The reported killing of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto shows the continued strength of Islamists and paralyzes Pakistan's political system.
Bhutto was killed Thursday along with as many as 20 other people during a political rally in Rawalpindi.
Various media, including Ammar Turabi, United Press International's regional consultant in Islamabad, and Pakistan state television reported Bhutto's death. There was an explosion at the rally, but CNN and India's NDTV said Bhutto was shot dead.
Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October after years of self-imposed exile in London and the United Arab Emirates. Her return was marred by a suicide bomber in Karachi who struck her welcome-home parade, killing as many as 140 people.
Widely popular yet controversial for the corruption during her time in power, Bhutto was expected to return to power in elections scheduled for Jan. 8.
Those elections may now be postponed, Anwar Iqbal, the Washington correspondent for the Dawn newspaper, told United Press International.
The assassination puts President Pervez Musharraf, who quit the military in order to hold on to his political post, in a bind; according to Indian television accounts from those at the scene of the killing, many people blamed the military for Bhutto's death.
Musharraf has held on to power despite widespread protest against his rule. He has made many enemies by backing the U.S.-led war on terrorism. While many in his country say he has bent over backward to accommodate the Americans, critics in the United States say Musharraf hasn't done enough to crack down on al-Qaida and the Taliban -- including, possibly, Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar -- who are present in his country.
The one group likely to be buoyed by Bhutto's death is the militants. While they have tried to kill Musharraf several times, Bhutto is their highest-profile victim. The killing also sends the message that despite reports to the contrary, the worldwide Islamist militant movement is alive and well.
--
Krishnadev Calamur, UPI International Security Editor
