RedStateEclectic : Benazir Bhutto Killed

12/27/2007

Benazir Bhutto Killed

The first woman prime minister of an Islamic nation was brutally shot and killed today in Pakistan. I don't know much about her except she opposed Musharraf, was a classic beauty and she was loved very deeply by her people. Rest in peace, brave Benazir. To be the first female leader of the Islamic world...boggles the mind. As the Greeks say, Memory Eternal.

This is not good for Middle Eastern stability.

From CNN

QUOTE: Bhutto was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former president and prime minister of Pakistan, who was hanged in 1979 for the murder of a political opponent two years after he was ousted as prime minister in a military coup. Benazir Bhutto was the de facto leader of her father's Pakistan People's Party.

Her brother, Murtaza, was killed along with six others in a 1996 shootout with police at his home. Another brother, Shahnawaz, died mysteriously in France in 1985.

"I know the past is tragic, but I'm an optimist by nature," Bhutto told Blitzer in September. "I put my faith in the people of Pakistan, I put my faith in God. I feel that what I am doing is for a good cause, for a right cause -- to save Pakistan from extremists and militants and to build regional security.

"I know the danger is out there, but I'm prepared to take those risks."

Benazir Bhutto earned degrees from Radcliffe College and Oxford University and received an honorary degree from Harvard University in 1989.

She leaves her husband of 20 years, Asif Ali Zardari, two daughters and a son.

Bhutto's husband issued a statement Thursday from his home in Dubai saying, "All I can say is we're devastated, it's a total shock." UNQUOTE

Posted by Deb Yost on 12/27/2007 at 11:32 AM in National/International Affairs | Permalink