PAKISTAN opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assasinated as she left a public rally today, threatening to plunge Pakistan into a civil war.
Benazir Bhutto
Ms Bhutto, twice the country's prime minister, was shot in the neck and bo
dy by a suicide bomber who then blew themselves up as she was driven from the rally in the city of Rawalpindi.
A senior military official confirmed that Ms Bhutto had died in the explosion that also killed at least another 20 people.
She had just addressed thousands of people in a public park as part of her campaign for the country's parliamentary elections which are due on January 8.
Her death threw the election campaign into chaos and created fears of mass protests and an eruption of violence across the country.
Its confirmation came from party member Wasif Ali Khan who was at Rawalpindi's General Hospital.
"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," he said. Her lawyer added: Her lawyer said, "The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred."
Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and opposition leader, arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Ms Bhutto's body.
Her security adviser Rehman Malik said she was shot in the neck and chest.
"We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers (devices to foil remote-control detonation of bombs), but they paid no heed to our requests," he said.
As her death was made public supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf.
Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears.
Ms Bhutto ,54, served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile last October after agreeing an amnesty deal with President Musharraf over corruption charges.
Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.
America was first to react internationally to the killing with a State Department spokesman condemning it and warning: "It demonstrates that there are still those in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance democracy."
President Musharraf convened an emergency meeting with his senior staff to discuss whether to postpone the election, an official at the Interior Ministry said.
Next to Mr Musharraf, Ms Bhutto was the best known political figure in the country, serving two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996.
She was respected in the West for her liberal outlook and determination to combat the spread of Islamic extremism, a theme she returned to often in her campaign speeches.
Meanwhile Mr Sharif also questioned whether to hold the elections.
"I think perhaps none of us is inclined to think of the elections," he said. "We would have to sit down and take a very serious look at the current situation together with the People's Party and see what we have to do in the coming days."
BENAZIR BHUTTO FACTFILE* Born June 21, 1953. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was president and later prime minister of Pakistan from 1971 to 1977.
* Educated at Harvard and Oxford universities. Returned to Pakistan in 1977. Inherited leadership of the PPP after her father's execution in 1979 under military ruler General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.
* First voted in as prime minister in 1988. Sacked on corruption charges in 1990. Took power again in 1993 after her successor, Nawaz Sharif, was forced to resign. Removed from power in 1996 by Sharif.
* 1999: Bhutto and husband Asif Ali Zardari sentenced to five years in jail and fined 8.6 million on charges of taking kickbacks from a Swiss company hired to fight customs fraud. Conviction overturned by higher court.
* Joined an Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy with her arch-rival Sharif in 2006.
* Returned to Pakistan in October 2007 from eight years of self-imposed exile. Military president Pervez Musharraf granted her protection from prosecution in old corruption cases.
* On her return, as she was driving through Karachi, a suicide bomber struck killing 139 supporters and members of her security team.
