[ See SAJAforum collection of coverage, sources, resources about the Bhutto assassination ]
Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007
As of 8:10 a.m. New York time, Dec. 27, 2007:
Benazir Bhutto's husband says she's been critically injured after being shot in the neck in Rawalpindi
8:25 a.m. New York time:
CNN's Kiran Chetry announces that Bhutto has been killed, quoting GEO and other TV sources.
8:35 a.m. New York time:
Pakistan state TV confirms her death.
Post your comments, news updates, links below.
See SAJA Freelance Forum list of freelancers available in Pakistan.
Photo is from Bhutto's Aug. 17, 2007 appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in NYC (audio and transcript available). Photo by Jay Mandal/On Assignment (jay[at]jaymandal.com)
Latest on Pakistan news:
- Pakistaniat.com
- Lahore Metblog
- Islamabad Metblog
- Karachi Metblog
- Bloggers.pk
- Global Voices Online
- More links
Video coverage:
- Pakistani TV news at PKpolitics.com
For journalists, here is a list of US sources about Pakistan
UPDATE:
Read updated news on Pakistan's English daily Dawn following Bhutto's assassination.
Anger in Pakistan: Bhutto supporters are taking their anger out to the streets. A Reuters report says more than 20 vehicles were torched in the central Sindh town of Hyderabad. The police are on red alert in Sindh, according to a senior police official.
Meanwhile, President Musharraf has announced three-day mourning for Bhutto. And opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has announced that his party will be boycotting next month's elections.
Times (UK) on suspects: TimesOnline's South Asia correspondent Jeremy Page has an article on the main suspects of Bhutto's assassination where he names people like Baitullah Mehsud, a top commander fighting the Pakistani army in the tribal region of South Waziristan and Haji Omar, the leader of the Pakistani Taleban.
But fingers will also be pointed at Inter-Services Intelligence, the agency that has had close ties to the Islamists since the 1970s and has been used by successive Pakistani leaders to suppress political opposition.
CNN video of the aftermath in the streets after Bhutto's death. Watch the video here.
NPR - Listen to NPR's 'Fresh Air', 'Day to Day' and 'Bryant Park Project' as Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, Washington Post reporter Griffe Witte and attack witness and Bhutto's media team member Farah Ispahani talk about how things are on the ground.
Also, Aniq Zafer, media advisor to Bhutto's campaign, discusses the scene in Islamabad.
In the United States, American presidential candidates have been reacting to the death of Bhutto through messages on their campaign websites and via emails. Read the USA Today blog and MSNBC to see how the candidates are reacting.
Several national and international leaders (including Nawaz Sharif, Manmohan Singh and Nicolas Sarkozy) are also condemning Bhutto's assassination.
Taking a slightly different angle, The Toronto Star writes that the setting of Bhutto's assassination is a sign of a troubled history of Pakistan.
The setting of Benazir Bhutto's assassination comes with its own sick symmetry: the once and future prime minister of Pakistan was slain today at the very site that claimed the country's first premier in a hail of bullets 56 years ago.
Thus does the already infamous Liaquat Bagh park - so named for its first victim, founding prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan - become more miserable still, offering another bloody signpost in the brutal political life of a country that has lost its way yet again.
Last week, Benazir Bhutto was voted second most influential woman of 2007 by MSN. It said: Bhutto is a walking example of the bumper-sticker motto, "Well-behaved women rarely make history."
Also, here is a Nov. 2 video interview with Bhutto
on Al Jazeera's "Frost over the world," where she talked about the
first assassination attempt during which 158 people were killed. Bhutto
talked about how she is determined to go ahead with her mission despite
the challenges and threats. When the reporter asked how her children
feel about it, she said - "They are coping."
NYTimes.com:
The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia via kwout
Al Jazeera:
Below is an Al Jazeera video showing Bhutto supporters in shock and disbelief after the bomb blast and the announcement of Bhutto's death in Rawalpindi's hospital.
Bhutto's last moment:
John Moore, a Getty Images photographer captured this picture of Bhutto seconds before she was shot.
In a telephone interview with CNN, Moore said that the armored car that Bhutto was sitting in, was moving very slowly and she was waving at her supporters from the sunroof. As he was taking pictures and the crowd shoved him around, he heard three gunshots and turned around to see Bhutto fall through the sunroof inside the car. Moore said he was about 20 yards away from her car.
