Pakistan government skips autopsy, shifts story on how Bhutto died

[rodeodance]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers



Posted on Fri, Dec. 28, 2007
Pakistan government skips autopsy, shifts story on how Bhutto died
Saeed Shah and Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: December 28, 2007 07:20:16 PM.........

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Mohammadmian Soomro, told the Cabinet that Bhutto's husband had insisted on no autopsy. But according to a leading lawyer, Athar Minallah, an autopsy is mandatory under Pakistan's criminal law in a case of this nature.

"It is absurd, because without autopsy it is not possible to investigate. Is the state not interested in reaching the perpetrators of this heinous crime or there was a cover-up?" Minallah said.

The scene of the attack also was watered down with a high-pressure hose within an hour, washing away evidence.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/v-print/story/23884.html

[ClusterFreak]

1. Bhutto was a threat to TPTB...

...and so she was killed. End of story.

Al Qaida my ass.

IMO.

[ohio2007]

15. "It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her," Mehsud said,

snip
"We have intelligence intercepts indicating that al Qaida leader Baitullah Mehsud is behind her assassination," Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.

Mehsud, who's based in the lawless Waziristan region on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, has been behind a series of suicide attacks in the region, according to U.S. officials.

Pakistani authorities released a transcript of what they said was a conversation in which Mehsud exults after being told by an unidentified religious cleric that Bhutto is dead.

"It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her," Mehsud said, according to the transcript.

In Washington, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity, said Mehsud was on "anyone's very short list" of suspects behind the killing. But the U.S. government had no separate confirmation of his role, he said.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan from exile in October partly at the urging of the Bush administration, which saw a renewed role for her as the best hope for returning the country to democracy and stability.

There were fears for her safety even before she arrived, which were heightened after twin suicide bombings upon her return that narrowly missed her and killed more than 130 others.

Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani political analyst and former journalist who was close to Bhutto, said he'd spoken to her before she returned, asking, "Have you done any thinking about your personal safety?"


snip
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/v-print/story/23884.html

she lasted two months. the clock stopped,time ran out on her;

Youth with explosives held near Bhutto's rally

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=3505a5b6-2db2-4e34-9d07-640ee1c2e2f6&MatchID1=4617&TeamID1=3&TeamID2=4&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1163&MatchID2=4625&TeamID3=1&TeamID4=6&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1165&PrimaryID=4617&Headline=Youth+with+explosives+held+near+Bhutto's+rally

it was aonly a matter of time till the "Egyptian river" started to flow ;)

[Matilda]

2. The soup thickens.

Does Muslim law allow for exhumation? I suspect it probably doesn't,
but it would be interesting to know if a future PM could order it.

[cal04]

3. Bhutto aides accuse government of cover-up

Al-Qaida denies involvement in slaying despite official accusations
Islamic militants said Saturday they had no link to Benazir Bhutto's assassination, dismissing government claims that a leader of pro-Taliban forces in Pakistan carried out the suicide attack on the opposition leader.

Bhutto's aides also said they doubted the militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack and accused the government of a cover-up.

The dispute and conflicting reports about Bhutto's exact cause of death was expected to further enflame the violence wracking this nuclear-armed nation two days after the popular former prime minister was killed in a suicide attack.

(snip)
a spokesman for Mehsud, Maulana Mohammed Umer, denied the militant was involved in the attack and dismissed the allegations as "government propaganda."

(snip)
"The fact is that we are only against America, and we don't consider political leaders of Pakistan our enemy," he said, adding he was speaking on instructions from Mehsud.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22427154/

[LynnTheDem]

4. When it looks like a cover-up, smells like a cover-up...

It's a cover-up.

And a very poorly done one.

[bemildred]

5. Very important to hose down crime scenes as soon as possible ... nt

[ohio2007]

6. Seems her hubby will observe the rules of Sharia - Lite

They'll probably build a mosque on the site

[Satyagrahi]

7. They handed her body over to her husband/her family. Why did he not

arrange for an independent autopsy if this was deemed so important by the PPP? He certainly got the money.

[ohio2007]

9. maybe he wants to run in her place in a week? put it all behind him and

try to unite the splinter groups that that made up her party platform.
Doubt it will work..."He is no Benazir Bhutto"

[Matilda]

21. He hasn't ruled it out.

He could - there would possibly be a strong sympathy vote if he did.

"Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, told the BBC her will would be read out to a meeting of the PPP by her son tomorrow.

Asked if he wanted to lead the party, Zardari replied: 'It depends on the party and it depends on the will'."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bhutto-death-theory-anger/2007/12/30/1198949658007.html


I don't know very much about him, except that he was accused of helping
himself to a large slice of the public purse when Benazir was in power.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. Has someone ever died in your family?

Were you logical when it happened?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. Autopsies are strictly forbidden in Islam.....

... unless there is a law that strictly requires it.

It borrowed that from Judaism, which also forbids autopsies. The body is defiled, according to Jewish law, when an autopsy is done.

[ohio2007]

10. Actuallly,according to the article,autopsy's are required by Pakistan law

in just these cases

[Sarah Ibarruri]

13. Only if requested by the police or other official of Pakistan, but that wasn't done.

I don't know why they didn't request it, but it certainly doesn't say anything good about the Bush administration's puppet, Musharraf.

[ohio2007]

14. actually, the govt gave the OK.

The Pakistani government has no problem with officials from Benazir Bhutto's political party exhuming the slain opposition leader's body if they see a need to do so, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Saturday.

snip
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/29/bhutto.death/index.html#cnnSTCText


people want to jump the gun ( no pun intended) when it come to the investigation

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1f9_1198935932

the next conspirecy will be
"How can the prove the body actually is hers" ;)

in 3, 2, 1,

[Sarah Ibarruri]

17. The government gave the okay TODAY to disinter the already-buried body..

In Islam, the disinterring of a buried body is even more disallowed than the performance of an autopsy because it is an even greater desecration of the body. Only after the body has turned to dust, is that allowed. (I just looked this up on the Internet, as can anyone). Musharraf waited till the body was buried. That is suspicious in any part of this planet. Musharraf did not give the okay to performing an autopsy at the hospital where she passed away, at the time when she passed away. Instead, he waited till the entire world freaked out that there was no autopsy, and blamed him for her death (which I don't discount one bit), and today they gave he gave his govt. the okay to give the okay to exhume. Disinterring is pretty horrid for the families emotionally as well. Nasty nasty business! The govt. should have asked for an autopsy immediately... unless they had lots to worry about.

I frankly am very surprised there aren't more conspiracy theories about this, and I'm not only referring to the autopsy-exhumation business. I mean, for example, if Al-Qaida killed her because she didn't like Al-Qaida, why haven't they killed Musharraf, who is George Bush's little "buttboy" and has been working like two peas in a pod with Bush to rid Pakistan of Al-Qaida (or so both claim)? In fact, Musharraf was just recently here in the U.S. staying with his roomie, Bush, at the White House. Al-Qaida would have far more reason to kill Musharraf than to kill Bhutto, and Al-Qaida had many, many years and opportunities to do just such a thing.

The way I feel about all of this is best described by a phrase used by Judge Judy: "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

[rockybelt]

11. Musharraf and Bush are "buddies"

They both lack the intelligence to pour water out of a boot with directions on the heel.
It would be political suicide for Musharraf to assassinate Bhutto, but like Bushco probably had it done because of his short sightedness.
More importantly, Bushco still backs this thug and wants elections held on time. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of if you really want to try for a real democracy in Pakistan. On the other hand, if you want to keep Musharraf in power, hold the elections while the op
Or maybe Bushco had her killed.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. I agree. To keep Musharraf's dictatorship in power, what better way than to kill Bhutto?

I don't trust Musharraf or Bush's administration and I believe both are capable of killing anyone at all to remain in power or to manipulate.

[rockybelt]

22. EXACTLY

[Satyagrahi]

12. "Pak govt ready to exhume Bhutto's body"

Pak govt ready to exhume Bhutto's body

NDTV Correspondent
Saturday, December 29, 2007 (Islamabad)
The Pakistan government has said that it's ready to exhume Benazir Bhutto's body to prove its claim that she died after hitting her head on the lever of her jeep's sunroof.

Benazir's husband Asif Ali Zardari had refused to allow a post mortem to be conducted on her body.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070037194&ch=12/29/2007%208:18:00%20PM

There are contradictions in the "official" PPP story.

Bhutto's lawyer claims that she was hit in the abdomen:

""Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head," Farooq Naik, Bhutto's lawyer and a senior PPP official, told AFP."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=61ba5c2b-fd43-47f0-9c6d-83539c90db30Benazirassassinated_Special&&Headline=Al-Qaeda+leader+denies+killing+Bhutto

Yet the woman that prepared her body for burial does not mention any wound in the abdomen and only speaks of a head injury:

""There was a bullet wound in the back of her head and it (the bullet) was (powerful) enough to come out from the other side", according to Rehman, who was part of a group of women that bathed Bhutto`s body before her burial. "
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?rep=2&aid=415706&sid=BZB

[Infinite Hope]

16. It's inconsequential whether she hit her head or was hit by bullets.

Either way, she died as a consequence 1)being shot at 2)a bomb

[Satyagrahi]

20. "Report silent on what hit Benazir’s head"

Report silent on what hit Benazir’s head

ISLAMABAD: The seven-member medical team that examined former premier Benazir Bhutto at Rawalpindi General Hospital on December 27, submitted its report to the Interior Ministry, making no mention of what exactly hit the head of the former prime minister.

A 3-page medical report, a copy of which is available with Daily Times, stated that an open-head injury with depressed skull fracture caused a cardiopulmonary arrest. The Interior Ministry had claimed that Benazir suffered a head injury after hitting the lever of her vehicle’s sunroof. The report read, “Benazir was pulse-less and was not breathing when she was brought to the hospital. Her pupils were fixed dilated and non-reacting to light. A wound was present on the right temporo-parietal region through which blood was trickling down and a whitish material, which looked like brain matter was visible in the wound.”It said that cardiopulmonary resuscitation was given as soon as Benazir was brought to the hospital.
Daily Times

Medical Report of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto:

"Details of the wound and its surroundings

There was wound in right Temporoparietal region. Shape was irregularly oval, measuring about 5 x 3 cms, just above the pinna of right ear. Edges were irregular. No surrounding wounds or blackening was seen. There was a big boggy swelling around the wound. Blood was continuously trickling down and whitish material that looked like brain matter was seen in the wound and on surrounding hair. Sharp bone edges were felt in wound. No foreign body was felt in the wound.

Wound was not further explored. Gentle aseptic dressing was used to cover the wound.

Bleeding from both the ears was seen, more so from the right ear. Slight trickle of blood was seen from right nostril also. Blood mixed with secretions was seen in the oral cavity also. Detailed external examination of the body did not reveal any other external injury.

X-rays of the skull AP and lateral views were done after she had been declared dead. Findings are as below:

Comminuted depressed skull fracture involving right temporoparietal bone is observed with inwards-depressed fracture fragment measuring approx. 35 mm on-X-ray measurement. Depressed fracture fragment distant from intact bony skull measures 12 mm from outer to outer skull table & 12 mm from inner to inner skull table. Two to three tiny radio-densities underneath fracture segment are observed on both projections. Associated scalp soft tissue swelling & moderate degree of pneumocephalus is observed. Rest of the bony skull is intact. Radio-opaque dental fillings are evident."
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=11974

Benazir Bhutto’s wound was bleeding after ritual bath

By GM Khuhro

LARKANA: Safia Bhutto, a woman that carried out the ablution of former premier Benazir Bhutto’s body, said on Saturday she had seen Benazir’s wound continuously bleeding during and after the final ablution.

Talking to Daily Times at her residence she said she had not seen the wound because it was covered with plaster or bandage, but had seen it bleed. She found the bandage wrapped around her head, covering her forehead and both ears, she said

Safia said she didn’t open the bandage to see the wound as women from Benazir’s family were standing beside her and had forbidden her to do so. She said she herself carried out the bath while another woman from the village, Ghulam Sughra, poured the water.

Safia said she could only partially bathe the body since she wasn’t permitted to move it because of the wound. According to her, Benazir’s left hand was lying flat while the right was over her abdomen. The fingers on her right hand were folded as if she had been holding something, Safia added.
Daily Times

There was only one wound. Claims by Bhutto's lawyer Farooq Naik that she was hit in the abdomen are false.