Friday December 28, 2007
Pakistani opposition leader Bhutto among 20 dead in suicide attack
RAWALPINDI: Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed yesterday in a suicide attack as she drove away from a campaign rally just minutes after addressing thousands of supporters.
Police said 20 people were killed in the blast, which occurred during campaigning for a Jan 8 national election. It is unclear if the polls will now go ahead.
Next to President Pervez Musharraf, Benazir, 54, was the best-known political figure in the country.
Benazir had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile on Oct 18. Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.
Supporters at the hospital in Rawalpindi smashed glass doors and stoned cars.
Musharraf blamed terrorists for Benazir's death and said he would redouble his efforts to fight them.
“This is the work of terrorists with whom we are engaged in war,” he said in a nationally televised speech.
He also announced three days of mourning for Benazir, during which the flag will fly at half-staff, and called for calm across the country.
Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif announced that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, is boycotting the elections and demanded that Musharraf resign immediately.
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