al Qaeda claims involvement in attack - with help of Pakistani ISI

By Doug Hagmann —— Bio and Archives December 28, 2007

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Former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister of Islamic Pakistan, was assassinated in an attack at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi today. Initial reports indicate the attacker struck minutes after Bhutto addressed thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi, 8 miles south of Islamabad. She died as a result of the bomb blast, which killed at least 22 others.

This event has worldwide implications - including those to the United States. UPDATE 1: A spokesperson for the al-Qaeda terrorist network has claimed responsibility for the death on Thursday of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. "We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen," Al-Qaeda’s commander and main spokesperson Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone call from an unknown location, speaking in faltering English. Al-Yazid is the main al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan. It is believed that the decision to kill Bhutto, who is the leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was made by al-Qaeda No. 2, the Egyptian doctor, Ayman al-Zawahiri in October. Death squads were allegedly constituted for the mission and ultimately one cell comprising a defunct Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Punjabi volunteer succeeded in killing Bhutto.