Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto's assassination yesterday poses huge dangers to Pakistan - and to every nation concerned about such issues as Islamic militancy, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the future of Afghanistan. It destroys the well-intentioned efforts of the Bush administration to foster a compromise that could lead to a restoration of democracy in Pakistan. It is also a serious blow to President Pervez Musharraf. He will be blamed for the attack, even if - as seems probable - it was carried out by forces opposed to his rule.

WASHINGTON -- For months, the Bush administration's hopes for political stability in Pakistan rested on the rising influence of Benazir Bhutto. Her death yesterday shattered those hopes and threatened to paralyze U.S. efforts that hinged in part on her survival: the fight against terrorism, the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and stability in the turbulent region. The Bush administration had a huge stake in Bhutto, the pro-Western former prime minister. U.S. officials were banking heavily that her party would win enough seats in next month's elections to stabilize a precarious political climate.

In a news media landscape where more and more citizen journalists are wielding cell phone cameras, it was a series of old-school, still photographs taken by a seasoned professional that held the world's attention in the immediate aftermath of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. From the Web site of NPR, to the screens of CNN and cnn.com, images captured by John Moore, a Pulitzer-winning photographer working for Getty Images, served as a powerful reminder that journalistic training, technical skill and professional know-how still matter when it comes to recording major breaking world events.

Bhutto's murder is attack on democracy The audacious and outrageous assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is an attack not only upon her and the country she loved but also on the civilized and democratic world. It is an assault that must be met with a renewed fervor to root out terrorism wherever it flourishes. Ms. Bhutto could have chosen to remain out of the spotlight, enjoying a comfortable life in exile. She instead chose to return to Pakistan, knowing full well of the dangers of doing so - dangers that have regularly been reinforced since the day of her return, when a lethal attack on her caravan was perpetrated.

The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was a shot heard around the world, sparking World War I. In 1948, the killing of Mahatma Gandhi, India's spiritual and political leader, helped galvanize a newly independent nation. And some observers believe the killing of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 initially helped but ultimately foiled further peace plans for the region. Over the past century, assassinations of heads of state and other prominent leaders such as the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States and Rabin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in the Middle East have shifted the course of history one way or another.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan-- --The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic opposition leader who had promised to restore democracy in Pakistan, set off a nationwide wave of grief and fury and raised the specter of violent unrest that could threaten the government of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf. At least 20 other people died in yesterday's assault just outside the main gates of a Rawalpindi park where Pakistan's first prime minister was assassinated in 1951. Bhutto's white SUV was hit by close-range gunfire, then rocked by a powerful explosion set off by a suicide attacker.

To Javaid Manzoor, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was more than the dynamic populist he believed was capable of propelling Pakistan toward true democracy. She was also a friend. When Manzoor's mother died in October, Bhutto visited her friend's Potomac home to offer condolences, making it her first stop upon arriving in Washington for a busy political trip. Manzoor, who had worked closely with Bhutto as president of the Washington chapter of her Pakistan People's Party, was stunned and distraught yesterday to learn of his hero's assassination.

The attack: Former Pakistani prime minister and current opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was struck down 12 days before parliamentary elections as an unknown gunman opened fire and then blew himself up, killing 20 other people. The aftermath: Enraged crowds rioted across Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf (left) reportedly weighed canceling the election as another opposition leader announced a boycott of the poll. PG 6A

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf promised yesterday to lift his emergency decree by Dec. 16, but opponents expressed skepticism that he would fully roll back the repressive measures he imposed nearly a month ago. The pledge came hours into Musharraf's tenure as a strictly civilian leader, which he touted as proof of his commitment to democracy. Taking the oath of office for a new five-year presidential term in the morning, the former general defended his decision to declare emergency rule and chided the West for "unrealistic" expectations about the nature of democracy in Pakistan.

LAHORE, Pakistan -- The day after returning to Pakistan after seven years in exile, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif registered yesterday for elections, although he said his party could still boycott the Jan. 8 vote. Sharif spoke in his family's home, which had been confiscated by the government while he was away. He vowed to fight military rule and President Pervez Musharraf, the army general who deposed him in a bloodless coup in 1999. Sharif spoke out more forcefully against Musharraf than another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, who had been negotiating a power-sharing deal with the president until he imposed emergency rule Nov. 3. Unlike Bhutto, Sharif called for the restoration of the judges fired by Musharraf because they would not sign a new oath to him. Sharif said this was the major issue on which he would not bend.