Bhutto's assassination: Pak media hints at conspiracy theories

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani media on Saturday questioned government's claims on Benazir Bhutto's assassination with a daily hinting at establishment's hand in her killing.
       
While leading newspaper the 'Dawn' speculated that Bhutto fell victim to a sniper's fire, the 'Daily Times' hinted at establishment's involvement contending that she was not provided adequate security despite the threat perception.
 
The Interior Ministry on Friday said that Bhutto was not struck by a suicide bomber's bullet or a shrapnel injury, but she had died after her skull got fractured when she hit a metal lever on the sun-roof of her armoured vehicle.
 
Columnist Shaukat Qadir, a former Pakistani Army Brigadier, claimed that her assassination might be pre-planned but was not willing speculate on who could be behind it.
 
"It is entirely possible that a certain segment of the crowd was placed at the exit to Liaquat Bagh with instructions to chant slogans to a crescendo at a time when the assassin(s) was in position, to which she would inevitably respond by exposing herself, thus offering the assassin(s) an opportunity to target her," he wrote in the Daily Times.
 
In its editorial, the Dawn said that Bhutto was apparently never given the security she asked for on her return to Pakistan on October 18 after eight years in exile.
 
"Why wasn't a scientific attempt made to ascertain the exact cause of her death as would have happened anywhere else in the world?" it asked.

"This may have been the result of nervousness or ineptitude on the part of the administration but will lead to more questions. Was the killer actually the suicide bomber? Or was there a sniper somewhere out of sight?" the Dawn said.
 
"More questions will inevitably follow when the statement of day one that Ms Bhutto was killed by gunfire is changed the next day by the Interior Minister to say that the former Prime Minister's killing was the result of a shrapnel injury," the editorial said.
 
The Daily Times said it was aware that Bhutto had died of a number of bullet wounds in the head and neck.
 
"Eyewitnesses claim having heard three bullets being fired but if one or more AK-47s were in use, it is likely that many more were actually fired. While it is assumed that the same individual who fired upon her blew himself up a few seconds later, it is possible, even likely, that more than one individual were involved," the daily said.
 
"It is incomprehensible that so many analysts have begun to bay for blood and have called upon the government to identify those responsible. If such a call was to be answered, some scapegoats would be found and sacrificed," it said.