Al-Qaida 'claim responsibility for Bhutto murder'

Islamist websites are reporting that al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the FBI said today, as rioting spread across Pakistan and hopes for democracy hung by a thread.

An FBI and Homeland Security bulletin to US law enforcement agencies, summarised by an unnamed official, said Osama bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahri had planned yesterday’s murder of Pakistan’s outspoken opposition leader.

The intelligence community was using all of its resources to determine who was behind Ms Bhutto's assassination, US Director of National Intelligence spokesman Ross Feinstein said.

But he added: “We’re in no position right now to confirm who may have been responsible for the attack.”

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the bureau was reviewing the al-Qaida claims for any intelligence value.

“The validity of those claims are undetermined,” he said.

Mr Musharraf blamed Islamic terrorists, pledging today that “we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out”.

Meanwhile, enraged crowds ran amok after the assassin shot Ms Bhutto following a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, throwing efforts to restore democracy in the nuclear-armed US ally into chaos.

The death of President Pervez Musharraf’s most powerful opponent plunged the nation into turmoil just 12 days before elections, and threatened its already unsteady role as a key fighter against Islamic terror.

The attacker opened fire as Ms Bhutto, one of Pakistan’s most famous and enduring politicians, waved to supporters from a vehicle while leaving the rally.

The attacker then blew himself up, killing 20 other people, according to witnesses and police. The killing sparked violence that killed at least nine other people.

Another opposition politician, Nawaz Sharif, announced he was boycotting the January 8 parliamentary elections in which Ms Bhutto was hoping to recapture the premiership, and Mr Musharraf reportedly considered cancelling the poll.

Mr Musharraf blamed Islamic terrorists, pledging in a nationally-televised speech that “we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out”.

US president George Bush, who spoke briefly by phone with Mr Musharraf, looked tense as he spoke to reporters, denouncing the “murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan’s democracy”.

Ms Bhutto’s death closed yet another grim chapter in Pakistan’s bloodstained history, 28 years after her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, another ex-prime minister, was hanged by a military dictatorship in the same northern city where she was killed.

Her death left her Pakistan People’s Party leaderless and plunged the Muslim nation of 150 million into violence and recriminations, with Mr Musharraf blaming Muslim extremists and Bhutto supporters accusing his government of failing to protect her in the wake of death threats and previous attempts on her life.

As the news spread, supporters gathered at the hospital where Ms Bhutto had been taken, smashed glass doors, stoned cars and chanted: “Killer, Killer, Musharraf.”

Mr Musharraf called an emergency meeting to discuss a response to the killing and whether to postpone the election, an interior ministry official said. He also announced three days of mourning for Ms Bhutto, with all businesses, schools and banks to close.

The killing eliminates a strong rival to the increasingly unpopular Mr Musharraf, but could weaken him by sparking uncontrollable riots across the country.

The US struggled to reformulate its plan to stabilise the country based on a rapprochement between Ms Bhutto and Mr Musharraf.

The United Nations Security Council denounced the killing and urged “all Pakistanis to exercise restraint and maintain stability in the country”.

Hours after Ms Bhutto’s death, supporters carried her body out of the hospital in a wooden coffin. It will be sent for burial to her ancestral home near the southern city of Larkana.

Mr Sharif, another former premier and leader of a rival opposition party, announced his party would boycott the elections, seen as vital to restoring democracy after eight years of authoritarian rule under Mr Musharraf.

He also demanded the resignation of Mr Musharraf, a former army chief who toppled Sharif in a 1999 coup.

“Musharraf is the cause of all the problems. The federation of Pakistan cannot remain intact in the presence of President Musharraf,” he said.

Next to Mr Musharraf, Ms Bhutto, 54, was the country’s best-known political figure, serving two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She was respected in the West for her liberal outlook and determination to combat Islamic extremism, a theme she returned to often in her campaign speeches in recent days.

She had just addressed more than 5,000 supporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi when the attacker struck as she was leaving in a white sports utility vehicle.

A smiling Ms Bhutto had stuck her head out of the vehicle’s sunroof to respond to youths chanting her name, said Sardar Qamar Hayyat, an official from Bhutto’s party who was about 10 yards away.

“Then I saw a thin, young man jumping towards her vehicle from the back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speeding vehicle going away. That was the time when I heard a blast and fell down,” Mr Hayyat said.

Ms Bhutto was rushed into emergency surgery. A doctor on the surgical team said a bullet in the back of her neck damaged her spinal cord before exiting from the side of her head.

Another bullet pierced the back of her shoulder and came out through her chest, he said. She was given an open heart massage, but the spinal cord damage was too great, he said.

Pakistani analysts were plunged into gloom.

“This assassination is the most serious setback for democracy in Pakistan,” said Rasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist at Lahore’s University of Management Sciences.

“It shows extremists are powerful enough to disrupt the democratic process.”