Police: Bhutto was shot before bomb attack
www.chinaview.cn 2007-12-27 23:37:47
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was shot by her attacker before he blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack Thursday outside a campaign rally, police said Thursday.
Bhutto, 54, died in a hospital after a suspected suicide rocked her election rally at the Liaquat Bagh park in Rawalpindi, some 30 km south from Islamabad.
The latest reports from the state-run PTV said at least ten people were killed in the blast.
However, a private TV, ARJ, reported that at least 20 were killed and another 42 were injured in the blast.
Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party, served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan on Oct. 18 after an eight-year exile.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is holding an emergency meeting at the presidency Thursday with top government officials after the assassination of Bhutto, state-run television reported.
Musharraf appealed to the nation to remain peaceful after the death of Bhutto "so that the evil designs of terrorists can be defeated," state TV said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/27/content_7326004.htmAnother source:
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While Bhutto appeared to have died from bullet wounds, it was not immediately clear if she was shot or if her wounds were caused by bomb shrapnel.
President Pervez Musharraf held an emergency meeting in the hours after the death, according to state media.
Police warned citizens to stay home as they expected rioting to break out in city streets in reaction to the death.
Police sources told CNN the bomber, who was riding a motorcycle, blew himself up near Bhutto's vehicle.
Bhutto was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital -- less than two miles from the bombing scene -- where doctors pronounced her dead.
Former Pakistan government spokesman Tariq Azim Khan said while it appeared Bhutto was shot, it was unclear if the bullet wounds to her head and neck were caused by a shooting or if it was shrapnel from the bomb.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/pakistan.sharif/?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail