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Pakistan Rejects Help In Bhutto Probe

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By RAVI NESSMAN, The Associated Press

Published: December 30, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Pakistani government on Saturday rejected foreign help in investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, despite controversy over the circumstances of her death and three days of paralyzing turmoil.

The Islamic militant group blamed by officials for the attack that killed Bhutto denied on Saturday any links to the killing, and Bhutto's aides accused the government of a coverup.
President Pervez Musharraf ordered his security chiefs to quell rioting by Bhutto's grieving followers that had killed at least 44 people in three days and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.

"Criminals should stop their despicable activities, otherwise they will have to face serious consequences," Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, in a meeting today, is expected to decide whether to participate in Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

If the party pulls out, it would destroy the credibility of the poll, already being boycotted by rival opposition leader Nawaz Sharif. The U.S. government has pressured Musharraf, who seized power in a coup eight years ago, to push ahead with the election to promote stability in this nuclear armed nation, a key ally against Islamic extremism.

The riots destroyed nine election offices - along with the voter rolls and ballot boxes inside, the election commission said. The commission has called an emergency meeting for Monday to decide how to proceed.

Questions about Bhutto's assassination have intensified since she died Thursday evening when a suicide attacker shot at her and then blew himself up as she waved to supporters from the sunroof of her armored vehicle outside a campaign rally.

The disputes were sure to further enflame the violence and have led to calls for an international, independent investigation into the attack.

Authorities initially said Bhutto died from bullet wounds. A surgeon who treated her later said the impact from shrapnel on her skull killed her.

But Cheema said Friday that Bhutto was killed when the shockwaves from the bomb smashed her head into the sunroof as she tried to duck back inside the vehicle.

Bhutto's spokeswoman Sherry Rehman, who was in the vehicle that rushed her boss to the hospital, disputed that.

"She was bleeding profusely, as she had received a bullet wound in her neck. My car was full of blood. Three doctors at the hospital told us that she had received bullet wounds. I was among the people who gave her a final bath. We saw a bullet wound in the back of her neck," she said. "What the government is saying is actually dangerous and nonsensical. They are pouring salt on our wounds. There are no findings, they are just lying."
Cheema stood by the government's version of events, and said Bhutto's party was free to exhume her body for an autopsy.

Roads across Bhutto's southern Sindh province were littered with burning vehicles, smoking reminders of the continuing chaos raging across the country. Business centers, gas stations and schools remained closed and many roads were deserted.

Desperate to quell the violence, the government sent troops into several cities. Soldiers patrolled some Karachi neighborhoods Saturday, and residents complained of shortages of food and gasoline.

One gunbattle in Karachi killed three people and wounded 17 others in a neighborhood where rioters had looted food stores in recent days, police officer Fayyaz Khan said.

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