Robert Fisk 41

'Robert Fisk: They don't blame al-Qa'ida. They blame Musharraf

Weird, isn't it, how swiftly the narrative is laid down for us.
Benazir Bhutto, the courageous leader of the Pakistan People's Party,
is assassinated in Rawalpindi ­ attached to the very capital of
Islamabad wherein ex-General Pervez Musharraf lives ­ and we are told
by George Bush that her murderers were "extremists" and "terrorists".
Well, you can't dispute that.

But the implication of the Bush comment was that Islamists were
behind the assassination. It was the Taliban madmen again, the
al-Qa'ida spider who struck at this lone and brave woman who had
dared to call for democracy in her country.

Of course, given the childish coverage of this appalling tragedy ­
and however corrupt Ms Bhutto may have been, let us be under no
illusions that this brave lady is indeed a true martyr ­ it's not
surprising that the "good-versus-evil" donkey can be trotted out to
explain the carnage in Rawalpindi.

Who would have imagined, watching the BBC or CNN on Thursday, that
her two brothers, Murtaza and Shahnawaz, hijacked a Pakistani
airliner in 1981 and flew it to Kabul where Murtaza demanded the
release of political prisoners in Pakistan. Here, a military officer
on the plane was murdered. There were Americans aboard the flight ­
which is probably why the prisoners were indeed released.

Only a few days ago ­ in one of the most remarkable (but typically
unrecognised) scoops of the year ­ Tariq Ali published a brilliant
dissection of Pakistan (and Bhutto) corruption in the London Review
of Books, focusing on Benazir and headlined: "Daughter of the West".
In fact, the article was on my desk to photocopy as its subject was
being murdered in Rawalpindi.

Towards the end of this report, Tariq Ali dwelt at length on the
subsequent murder of Murtaza Bhutto by police close to his home at a
time when Benazir was prime minister ­ and at a time when Benazir was
enraged at Murtaza for demanding a return to PPP values and for
condemning Benazir's appointment of her own husband as minister for
industry, a highly lucrative post.'

Lees verder: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3291600.ece