Re: New Video Appears To Show Bhutto Being Shot
Diplomats puzzled by Pakistan statements
** A diplomat asks why the govt is so eager to avoid acknowledging the role of a gunman
By Khalid Hasan*
WASHINGTON: Western diplomats told Los Angeles Times, according to a report published on Sunday, that they found the Pakistani government statements on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto worrying in their wider implications.
“It’s not only that this is not a credible account of what happened – that’s obvious on the face of it,” said a
diplomat familiar with security matters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He was commenting on the government’s changing version of the assassination, which, in its third take attributed Benazir’s death to a head injury suffered as she fell through the opening of the vehicle she was in.
An eager govt: A Western diplomat told the newspaper, “It’s that it raises questions about why the government is so extraordinarily eager to avoid acknowledging the role of a gunman, whether or not the wounds were fatal. At the very least, it’s puzzling.” Several analysts said the use of a handgun in addition to explosives is a
departure for militant groups in Pakistan.
“This is not by any means a signature killing by Al Qaeda,” security analyst Nasim Zehra told the Los Angeles Times, “A targeted shooting, even in combination with a familiar suicide bombing, makes it look more like a political killing than one by some militant group.” Columnist Ikram Sehgal said, “Obviously, they were studying her movements in the course of the political campaign. Inside the rally, it was relatively secure; her problem was entering and leaving. She was highly vulnerable at that time. It was done very professionally. It was a ‘hit’.”
That degree of professionalism suggests to some experts the hand of Pakistan’s security apparatus, which has previously aided and abetted militant groups, including the Taliban, according to the newspaper’s correspondent who filed the report from Pakistan.
Also quoted was security analyst Ayesha Siddiqa, “The agencies have ongoing connections with the militants. It’s very simplistic to talk about the militants doing this and doing that, all the while acting alone.”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\12\31\story_31-12-2007_pg7_2