A tragic day for Pakistan and for democracy

In my previous post on my hopes for next year, I omitted two things. One, that steps would be taken to get to grips with the Palestinian problem and second that Pakistan, after the elections on January 8th, would take the first steps back to democratic rule.

The first of those always had little hope of success and the second has today received a massive body blow with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the country's prime opposition leader.






In exile for so many years, she took an enormous risk in deciding to go home and contest the elections and the size of that risk was made apparent only days after her arrival in Pakistan when a suicide bomber exploded a device that killed 140 of her supporters in October.

Al Quaeda was blamed for that attack and now the question is being asked - who is responsible for this successful attack on the woman seen by the west as the best hope for Pakistan's future as a democratic ally.

There is no doubt that she was hated by Islamic extremists and with good reason. She had promised that, if elected, she would allow US led search and destroy teams to comb the mountain areas of Pakistan to find the Al Quaeda elements who take refuge there. There is no doubt that she was a considerable threat to them.

Some people are blaming President Musharraf, even though he has himself been a target of attacks. A cousin of Ms Bhutto said angrily tonight that it was astonishing that the President had always survived such attacks unharmed while Ms Bhutto was killed. He seemed to be suggesting that the Presidential attacks were a convenient smoke screen to draw suspicion from the government.

I would think this is unlikely. Far more likely, and extremely worrying, is the likelihood that within the inner sanctum of Pakistan's government there are those, sympathetic to Islamic fundamentalism, who are passing information on.

Whether the elections on January 8th will now go ahead is debatable. What is clear is that a country which was already dangerous and unstable has been plunged into even deeper turbulence with the murder of a very brave woman who must have known the risks she faced in going home. This assassination is a tragic day for Pakistan and for hopes of a democratic future. My hopes for the coming 12 months have got off to the worst possible start