Libertarian Leanings

Al Qaeda claims responsibility

Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the murder of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi yesterday.

Karachi, 27 Dec. (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - A spokesperson for the al-Qaeda terrorist network has claimed responsibility for the death on Thursday of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen,” Al-Qaeda’s commander and main spokesperson Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone call from an unknown location, speaking in faltering English. Al-Yazid is the main al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan.

It is believed that the decision to kill Bhutto, who is the leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was made by al-Qaeda No. 2, the Egyptian doctor, Ayman al-Zawahiri in October.

Death squads were allegedly constituted for the mission and ultimately one cell comprising a defunct Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Punjabi volunteer succeeded in killing Bhutto.

Bhutto had just addressed a pre-election rally on Thursday in the garrison town of Rawalpindi when the bomb went off.

Al Qaeda seems determined to become as popular in Pakistan as it has become in Iraq.

Bhutto assassinated in suicide blast

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was injured in a suicide blast shortly she addressed a political rally in Rawalpindi.  The blast killed at least 20 people .

A party aide said she was undergoing surgery. Her condition wasn't clear.

Police official Abdul Karim said Ms. Bhutto had already left the area in her vehicle when the blast went off, just minutes after her speech to thousands of supporters.

Party supporter Chaudry Mohammed Nazir said that two gunshots rang out when Bhutto's vehicle pulled into the main street and then there was a big blast next to her car. Police cordoned off the street with white and red tape, and rescue workers rushed to put victims in ambulances as people wailed nearby.

Rahman Malik, Ms. Bhutto's security adviser, told Pakistan's Geo news channel that she escaped unhurt just because she was in a bulletproof vehicle. "She was the prime target," he said. "I have been told by eyewitnesses that someone first opened fire and then detonated the bomb... We had information that Benazir Bhutto's life is in danger." Mr. Malik said that one of the vehicles in Ms. Bhutto's convoy was badly damaged.

In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital where Mr. Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army has its headquarters.

Update:  The Sun (UK) reports that Ms. Bhutto has been killed.

It has been reported that Mrs Bhutto was shot in the neck and the chest before the bomber blew himself up.

Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General hospital, said Mrs Bhutto died at 6.16pm Pakistani time (1.16pm GMT)

Babar Awan, Bhutto’s lawyer, said: “The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred.”

Via Power LIne and Drudge.