Pakistan Rudderless After Bhutto's Death

Grief And Violence In The Streets; Division On How To Carry On Bhutto's Legacy

(CBS/AP)  Many chanted for justice and blamed the government for their heroine's death. Others consoled each other as they wept.

The funeral for slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in southern Pakistan on Friday was filled with the rawest emotions for the hundreds of thousands who converged on her family's mausoleum here.

She was interred next to her father, also a popular former prime minister who met a violent death, reports CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar from Islamabad.

People crammed inside the cavernous hall, throwing rose petals on the coffin. Some cried, others chanted "Benazir is alive," as her body was laid to rest. One man sobbed uncontrollably, crying, "My sister has gone." Another fainted as several thousand people jostled to get a last glimpse.

Bhutto's son, Bilawal, and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, who wore a traditional white Sindhi cap and appeared composed, helped lift the coffin into the grave. An Islamic cleric led mourners in prayers.

A vast crowd congregated outside to pay its last respects, lining up in hundreds of rows for the prayers and later filing in to throw sand on the grave. They had arrived by tractors, buses, cars and jeeps that were parked in dusty fields surrounding the mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, where Bhutto's father, former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is also buried.

Some Bhutto supporters shouted "General, killer!" "Army, killer" in apparent reference to President Pervez Musharraf, who recently retired as army chief after eight years of military rule. Party leaders tried to pacify the crowd and urged them to stop.

Musharraf has never been popular, and now he's being blamed for having done too little to insure the safety of his main political rival, reports CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan. Pakistan's democracy hinges largely on how he responds.

Pakistan's interior minister told The Associated Press that al Qaeda and Taliban were behind the assassination of the former Prime Minister.

"We have the evidence that al Qaeda and Taliban were behind the suicide attack on Benazir Bhutto," Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said that on Friday, the government recorded an "intelligence intercept" in which militant leader Baitullah Mehsud "congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act." He gave no further details on the nature of the intercept.

Cheema described Mehsud as an "al Qaeda leader" and said he was also behind the Oct. 18 bombing against Bhutto's homecoming parade through Karachi that killed more than 140 people.

He said Pakistani security forces would hunt down those responsible for Bhutto's death.

In cities elsewhere in Pakistan, Bhutto's supporters ransacked banks, waged shootouts with police and burned trains and stations in a spasm of violence less than two weeks before parliamentary elections.

A Pakistani security official said at least 23 people have been killed in violence and the army has been called in to help keep order in several cities in southern Pakistan.

"The situation on the ground is quite precarious," Pakistan's Geo TV Islamabad bureau chief Absar Alam told CBS' The Early Show. Alam added that the country is "spinning out of control."

Draped in the red, green and black flag of her Pakistan People's Party, the coffin had been carried about five three miles in a white ambulance from Bhutto's ancestral home to the vast marble mausoleum, passing a burning passenger train on the way.

Signboards that had been erected two months ago to mark Bhutto's return from exile to Pakistan still dotted the route. On one, someone had scrawled, "Benazir you are the hope for the poor."

In front of the mausoleum, with its three domes, mourners wept and hugged each other. Some chanted slogans against figures in the pro-government political party, as they waited for the coffin to be shifted inside. Others shouted, "As long as the moon and sun are alive, so is the name of Bhutto."

Zulfiqar Bhutto, who formed the party and is an iconic leader in Pakistan's troubled 60-year history, was executed in 1979 during the military regime of the late dictator, Gen. Zia ul-Haq, after he was convicted of conspiring to murder the father of a political opponent. Benazir was the eldest of his children.

She visited the mausoleum in October to pay respects at her father's grave, days after she narrowly escaped another suicide attack on her homecoming parade in Karachi, that killed more than 140 people. The ambulance passed over a ramp that was built for that visit.

People who gathered for Friday's funeral repeatedly chanted slogans against the former top elected officials in Sindh and Punjab provinces, who are members of the ruling, pro-Musharraf party. Bhutto supporters suspect those officials were complicit in attacks on the opposition leader - which the government denies.

"We Sindhis do not want Pakistan anymore. Why is it only Sindhi prime ministers are assassinated or killed?" said Rehmatullah, 25, who goes by one name, referring to the demise of the Bhuttos and the country's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, who was shot to death in 1951. All three died in Rawalpindi where Pakistan's army has its headquarters.

"Now we will bring revolution," Rehmatullah said.

Another mourner disagreed.

"No we need Pakistan. It was BB's mission to protect Pakistan and we will complete her mission," said Eman Ali Shah.

Bhutto, whose party has long been popular among Pakistan's legions of poor, served two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996. Both elected governments were toppled amid accusations of corruption and mismanagement. She had been vying for a third term if her party fared well in Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

Bhutto was a domineering presence in her party, and there is no clear successor to the leadership. Her husband, who was freed in December 2004 after eight years in detention on graft charges, is one contender to head the party although he lacks the cachet of a blood relative.

Musharraf on Friday telephoned Zardari to express "heartfelt condolences" and said the whole nation was "grieved" at Bhutto's death, the state Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

There are other younger members of the Bhutto clan - which has itself been riven by feuds and rivalry - who have been touted as future politicians, among them Bhutto's son Bilawal, and her 25-year old niece, Fatima Bhutto, who was sometimes fiercely critical of her aunt in a weekly column for a leading Pakistani newspaper.

[mythoughtsr]

You cannot be the least surprised that they killed her. The day that I watched her return I knew it was just a matter of time before they took her out. While it is an extremely sad day for Pakistan and the world, I wasn''t shocked in the least. Those murderous animals will do nothing to stop their useless and pointless violent agenda. They are cowards.

[searingtruth]

"We became evil to fight evil, assuring its victory."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

"And so death begat death, and suffering begat suffering, until all had been consumed, and all cause lost."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

May goodness bless the soul of Benazir Bhutto,and may humanity and the rule of law return to America so we may once again protect the innocent.
ST


"It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn."
George Washington, letter to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, September 5, 1789

"This I hope will be the age of experiments in government, and that their basis will be founded in principles of honesty, not of mere force."
Thomas Jefferson, 1796

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
Thomas Paine, Dissertation on First Principles of Government, December 23, 1791

"True freedom is always in jeopardy."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[jjp735i]

Bhutto knew her death was a very high possibility once she returned. I hope her supporters react in a possitive way and continue to push for change with in their government and not tear apart their own cities by burning them down and killing people out of anger.
Protest loud and strong, but don''t destroy what she was trying to do.

I hope Bush''s friend was not involved (fat chance I know), but if he was, Bush has to move away from him fast. We will know as soon as the White House starts to down play how tight they are with Musharraf. Get ready for the Bushit coming.

[mcvet]

You cannot be the least surprised that they killed her. The day that I watched her return I knew it was just a matter of time before they took her out. While it is an extremely sad day for Pakistan and the world, I wasn''''t shocked in the least. Those murderous animals will do nothing to stop their useless and pointless violent agenda. They are cowards.

Posted by Mythoughtsr at 07:04 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

This is NEWS? The REAL question is why did that pathetic piece ho human trash a few call a President wall away from the fight with them, allow them to rebuilt to the strenght they were before the attack on us, provide them a training ground in Iraq and ignore their ability to bring such distruction to that nation that ACTUALLY does have Nukes?? Talk about INCOMPETENCE??? Bush, without a doubt, has enough INCOMPETENCE to make up for ALL our great leaders. Sieg Heil Bush!!

[rplat]

Let''s not get carried away with this baloney . . . the woman was a filthy rich, corrupt, narcissistic elitist that lived a privileged life while her countrymen starved in abject poverty.

[hillaryin08]

While it is an extremely sad day for Pakistan and the world, I wasn''''''''t shocked in the least. Those murderous animals will do nothing to stop their useless and pointless violent agenda. They are cowards.

Posted by Mythoughtsr at 07:04 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

This is NEWS? The REAL question is why did that pathetic piece ho human trash a few call a President wall away from the fight with them, allow them to rebuilt to the strenght they were before the attack on us, provide them a training ground in Iraq and ignore their ability to bring such distruction to that nation that ACTUALLY does have Nukes?? Talk about INCOMPETENCE??? Bush, without a doubt, has enough INCOMPETENCE to make up for ALL our great leaders. Sieg Heil Bush!!


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Posted by MCVet at 08:00 AM : Dec 28, 2007


You are an Idiot. If you really are a Vet and you have been to that region you would know that the Taliban would never allow this woman to come back to power. There have been 9 attempts on Musharif''s life as well. The reason you and the rest of the kooks are blind to this is because your enemy is in the white house and you share the same enemy as our country''s enemey so it blinds your jugement. Its truly amazing to watch you guys play into the hands of the enemy. how Welcome to the war against Islamic Facistiam buddy.

[hillaryin08]

Its doubtful your even from America anyways. Its a well known fact that the enemy gets on our blogs to stir up trouble. Kind of makes you wonder who is who

[badmoonryzn]

Yea I agree, violent morons like Searing Truth who prostitute themselves in order to propagate their twisted point of view. Searing Truth is exactly the same as the murderous villains who just killed Bhutto. They spout their insignificance hoping to find others as gullible as they are, but fortunately few are that stupid. What a pinhead!

[hillaryin08]

And for the rest of you kooks out there the only Tyrany you live in the United States is in your mind.

Pinheads

[hillaryin08]

Like I''ve already stated, Its a well known fact that the enemy gets on our blogs. As far as the radical left, their hatred for bush or the rich or whatever the cause of the week is clouds their judgement. If they are really living in the US they are not living in Tyrany except in their minds.

[searingtruth]

"I have found that war begins whenever humanity is abandoned, for whatever reason, and after that the justifications are of no consequence to the dead."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[hillaryin08]

Welcome to the war on Islamic Facisiam

[radiob-2009]

Hmmm by the post''s we better reopen JFK''s, MLK and RFK''s assassination. Maybe Islamic Jihadist were behind those attacks also.


The police are investigating, where is the independent investigation into her death? From the actions of her supporters after her murder it seems they were not in touch with her philosophy.

[hillaryin08]

SearingTruth

You might as well pack you bags and head over their to fight the United States. Our policy to fight Islamic Facisam is not going to change.

[hillaryin08]

Nobody is telling you you dont have a right to public decent. Just show a little class or dignity once in a while. We are going to be in this fight for a long time regardless who is the President. The tyrany you are experiencing is all in your mind.

[radiob-2009]

Let''s Bhutto was assassinated by a unknown assailant, it has yet to be determined who actually killed her. Musharraf is such a nice guy he would not have had anything to do with it right? And by some of the comments of the posters this is a islamic jihad not only on Bhutto but on the US. ST post''s about the destruction of our nation over the last 7 years in Bush failed presidency and you blame ST. Wake up, Bush had his opportunity to get OBL and blew it.

[hillaryin08]

"People will believe in almost anything, except for reality."
SearingTruth

Your 100% right on that one.

[formrusmcsgt]

Your propoganda only works on the gullible.

Most sane people don''''t fall for your tricks...so keep posting your same rhetoric.....but know that most people don''''t fall for it.

Posted by singinrick at 08:42 AM : Dec 28, 2007

You really feel empowered to speak for all, eh rick?

ST''s posts are not deviated by dogma subscripstion as your''s are.

I see more logic in one of ST''s posts thatn I see in all you''ve ever posted put together.

[abdoul_pasha]

Goodafternoon!

[hillaryin08]

Bush wasnt in Tora Bora pinhead the 10th mountain was. The Battalion Commander that had the best opprotunity to get Bin-Laden chose to save his own men instead.

[formrusmcsgt]

We are going to be in this fight for a long time regardless who is the President. The tyrany you are experiencing is all in your mind.

Posted by hillaryin08 at 08:52 AM : Dec 28, 2007

Our own 16 intelligence agencies in their NIE unanimously agree that dubya''s fight actually fosters terrorism rather than reduces it.

Perhaps our next pres will actually read the report rather than flat ignore it.

Then we''ll make some headway....

[katg21]

Democracy is the biggest threat to terrorism; that is why Bhutto was killed, why Iraq and Afghanastan have been so difficult. Nothing worth while comes easy. Those on the left choose to ignore what''s really going on and prefer to play politics as usual. I would like to ask any of them... why did 9/11 happen? Are you willing to go back to pre 9/11 thinking and ignore the threat? It won''t just go away.

[formrusmcsgt]

The Battalion Commander that had the best opprotunity to get Bin-Laden chose to save his own men instead.

Posted by hillaryin08 at 08:56 AM : Dec 28, 2007

Are you really so naive to believe that the decision to pay Afghans to go after bin Laden instead of using U.S. troops was made by a batallion commander?

[radiob-2009]

Posted by hillaryin08 at 08:56 AM

Oh Hillary08 where was the foresight in the planning of the war? Let''s see announce prior to bombing and invading, do not cut off all routes of escape, do not use or maintain maximum force, shall I go on?

[hillaryin08]

The Battalion Commander that had the best opprotunity to get Bin-Laden chose to save his own men instead.

Posted by hillaryin08 at 08:56 AM : Dec 28, 2007

Are you really so naive to believe that the decision to pay Afghans to go after bin Laden instead of using U.S. troops was made by a batallion commander?


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Posted by formrusmcsgt at 08:58 AM : Dec 28, 2007


No, but it wasnt made by the commander in cheif either

[katg21]

Our own 16 intelligence agencies in their NIE unanimously agree that dubya''''s fight actually fosters terrorism rather than reduces it.Posted by formrusmcsgt

It keeps the fighting there at least. What did we do to prevoke 9/11? NOTHING. I find it humorous that you on the left actually believe that if we just ignore the problem it will just go away. Am I right to assume that if Bush had done that you would support him? HA! Truth is, if Bush hadn''t put us in this fight you''d be complaining about that too. There isn''t anything he could have done right in your eyes. You are all so filled with hate that you''re blind.

[formrusmcsgt]

No, but it wasnt made by the commander in cheif either

Posted by hillaryin08 at 09:02 AM : Dec 28, 2007

Who mentioned Cheney?

[hillaryin08]

Cheney?

It doesent work like that and you know it

[radiob-2009]

Dr.Zeuss with a prescription of feed them green eggs and ham could have done a better job than Bush in getting OBL. Might have had to send a bottle of immodium to assist in the clean up.

[formrusmcsgt]

It keeps the fighting there at least.
Posted by katg21 at 09:03 AM : Dec 28, 2007

No, it keeps the fight going. Terrorism is like a cockroach infestation. You can splatter them one by one forever as they come out of the wall but the fight is owon by stopping the breeding.

What did we do to prevoke 9/11? NOTHING.
Posted by katg21 at 09:03 AM : Dec 28, 2007

We were attacked for our support of Israel''s apartheid against the Palestinians. If you has read bin Laden''s fatwah you''d have know this.

I find it humorous that you on the left actually believe that if we just ignore the problem it will just go away. Am I right to assume that if Bush had done that you would support him? HA! Truth is, if Bush hadn''''t put us in this fight you''''d be complaining about that too. There isn''''t anything he could have done right in your eyes. You are all so filled with hate that you''''re blind.

Posted by katg21 at 09:03 AM : Dec 28, 2007

dubya had the choice to change policy or not. He changed policy, but not in a justifiable direction. He chose to exacerbate the issue with outright hegemony.

[flynnhaven]

So another muslim dies...who cares?...My new year''s wish is that EVERY muslim in the world will turn into a suicide bomber and blow each other up in their own countries...Then we can build the trans-arabian pipeline....woooooooohoooooooooooo

[formrusmcsgt]

Cheney?

It doesent work like that and you know it

Posted by hillaryin08 at 09:05 AM : Dec 28, 2007

I guess you slept through the recent affair regarding the CIA tapes destruction where Cheney was briefed and didn''t even mention it to dubya.

When asked, Dana Perino said there was nothing unusual about that.

[searingtruth]

"You really feel empowered to speak for all, eh rick?
ST''''s posts are not deviated by dogma subscripstion as your''''s are.
I see more logic in one of ST''''s posts thatn I see in all you''''ve ever posted put together."
formrusmcsgt


Thank you fellow patriot, but do not worry.

When people have no logical argument or defense all they can do is attempt to tear the truth down.

But you and I are still standing.

That is how America has withstood the tyranny for over 225 years that the supporters of Bush would now so gleefully impose upon us.

I mean honestly, what else can they say? That the founding fathers always meant for us to have dictatorial government, secret prisons, and tortured inmates?
ST


"When liberty is abandoned it is no longer secure."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[radiob-2009]

Bush the little Marionette.

[formrusmcsgt]

You really feel empowered to speak for all, eh rick?
ST''''''''s posts are not deviated by dogma subscripstion as your''''''''s are.
I see more logic in one of ST''''''''s posts thatn I see in all you''''''''ve ever posted put together."
formrusmcsgt


Thank you fellow patriot, but do not worry.

Posted by SearingTruth at 09:13 AM : Dec 28, 2007

rick couldn''t worry me on his best day. He believes in fairy tales and runs off like a little girl as soon as his drivel is challenged. (Note that he ran without even responding?)

I was swatting a fly, nothing more.

[formrusmcsgt]

Bush the little Marionette.

Posted by radiob at 09:14 AM : Dec 28, 2007

Bush couln''t think his way out of a wet paper bag. He is obviously a mere figurehead as Reagan was.

[formrusmcsgt]

Goog morning all. I''m off to an appointment.

[katg21]

No, it keeps the fight going.Posted by formrusmcsgt

the fight AGAINST US would continue whether we are there or not. Again, your solution is to ignore it.

[skyk-2009]

It doesent work like that and you know it


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Posted by hillaryin08 at 09:05 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

Well exactly how does it work? You folks come on here and defend someone who is obviously Incompetent, attack anyone who points that out and then post simple things like this in an attempt, I''d suppose, to make others look not important enough to listen too. It would appear to me, given the situtation here, we need to be debating this thing extensively and not playing childish school yard name games.

[abdoul_pasha]

So another muslim dies...who cares?...My new year''''s wish is that EVERY muslim in the world will turn into a suicide bomber and blow each other up in their own countries...Then we can build the trans-arabian pipeline....woooooooohoooooooooooo
-------------
We will blow you up.

[skyk-2009]

So another muslim dies...who cares?...My new year''''s wish is that EVERY muslim in the world will turn into a suicide bomber and blow each other up in their own countries...Then we can build the trans-arabian pipeline....woooooooohoooooooooooo


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Posted by flynnhaven at 09:10 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

It''s very lucky for us in this nation that we did not listen to your kind during the fight over Civil Rights. If we had the vast majority of the citizens in the south would not exist!

[radiob-2009]

They(singinrick''s, hilary08''s) have assumed that this was the work of a Al Queda type operation instead of it being the work of Musharraf. Nah he would not do it, just declared marshall law for 6 weeks and has had 6 years to go after OBL in Pakistan and instead has done what?

[notblue]

former, you are one deluded, condiscending, assshole. The irony of it is you are one clueless and truly brainwashed individual, your hatred has prevented any kind of rational thought only critisism and vitriol. It must make you proud that the likes of Searing Truth, who isn''t even an Amercian citizen, backs your twisted anti-American pro terrorist views.

[radiob-2009]

Posted by Abdoul_Pasha

Careful with your words despite the idiocy of others.

[skyk-2009]

No, it keeps the fight going.Posted by formrusmcsgt

the fight AGAINST US would continue whether we are there or not. Again, your solution is to ignore it.


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Posted by katg21 at 09:19 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

No I think our President has Ignored this situation long enough for all American''s. After 6 years and a Trillion Dollars we find those who attacked us able to do this? Yeah I''d say ignored is a proper discription... maybe INCOMPETENCE is a better one though.

[katg21]

We will blow you up.
Posted by Abdoul_Pasha

Funny.

[radiob-2009]

It must make you proud that the likes of Searing Truth, who isn''''t even an Amercian citizen, backs your twisted anti-American pro terrorist views.


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Posted by notblue


Heck of a accusation? Do you have any proof of it? I happen to know otherwise, you may be American born but are not a American in spirit.

[abdoul_pasha]

I`m careful and I know what to speak!