Saturday, December 29, 2007

Pakistan's Other Bhuttos

Sister-in-law Ghinwa Bhutto's story:

"Ms. Bhutto's own sister-in-law, Ghinwa Bhutto, is the Lebanese widow of her second brother, Murtaza. The two women have been bitter rivals since Murtaza was gunned down by police officers yards from his home in Karachi in 1996, during Ms. Bhutto’s second term as prime minister. His widow holds Ms. Bhutto responsible for his death and now leads a rival faction of the Pakistan Peoples Party in the name of her dead husband.

So sacrificing supporters for political power is NOTHING NEW to Bhutto!!!

CUI BONO
, readers?


Ghinwa Bhutto said in an interview here that she intended to run in the parliamentary elections set for January, in an adjacent constituency to Ms. Bhutto’s. Although her following remains small compared to that of the former prime minister, her presence will be a thorn in Ms. Bhutto’s side, and possibly a security concern. Murtaza Bhutto’s supporters denied there would be trouble from their side.

But they are a good group for Mushy to finger if something does happen!

Would discredit the PPP, and CUI BONO?


Of course, now we know "Al-CIA-Duh" has been accused!

Then there is Ghinwa's daughter Fatima:

"
The truth about Benazir Bhutto

Fatima Bhutto is the niece of Benazir Bhutto.

Fatima’s father (Murtaza Bhutto) was Benazir’s younger brother.
Fatima’s mother is Lebanese.
fatima_bhutto.jpg
Fatima says the so-called clash between Benazir and Musharraf is a "farce.” She says both share power, both are working to crush democracy, and both are supported by Bush.

Fatima (age 25) says Benazir wants to "to sell out the country to the United States.” She says Benazir and Musharraf are helping each other, and are working together to keep out exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Fatima described Benazir's four-day house arrest as a joke. "Have you ever seen anyone under house arrest released continually to give interviews, and even receive an American consul? Musharaff silences all true opponents, but lets Benazir give constant interviews and say whatever Benazir likes. He even gives her police protection for this.”

In an interview to CNN Late Edition, Benazir twice avoided criticizing Musharraf when asked to do so, telling the interviewer instead: “I know where you want to take me.” (http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/19/top6.htm)

Fatima, a poet and writer, is actively involved in politics. She plans to run as a candidate for the breakaway Pakistan People's Party Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB), which wants a return to Pakistan's Constitution of 1973. The PPP-SB is led by Fatima’s mother, Ghinwa Bhutto, who is Lebanese

Fatima is now a columnist for The News in Pakistan. She took an undergraduate degree at Columbia University, and a Master’s degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

"Benazir’s second term was characterized by several acts of state violence against opponents. She created the conditions for the violence in which my father was a victim, and then helped cover it up at the inquest.”

Fatima’s father, Murtaza Bhutto, was a left-wing activist who spent much time in Lebanon. He was a member of Pakistan’s Parliament, and a vocal critic of his sister's (Benazir’s) politics.

“He was killed outside our home in 1996 in a carefully planned police assassination, while his sister Benazir was prime minister. There were 70 to 100 policemen on the scene when it happened. All the streetlights had been shut off, and the roads were cordoned off. They killed six men along with my father, shooting them repeatedly at point blank range, and leaving them to bleed on the streets. A tribunal of three respected judges concluded that the assassinations could not have taken place without approval from a ‘much higher’ political authority. Did my aunt Benazir murder my father, who was her younger brother?”

“Perhaps the most bizarre part of this circus has been Benazir’s hijacking of the democratic cause. Last month while she was hashing out a deal to share power with the dictator Musharraf, she repeatedly insisted that democracy in Pakistan would be a lost cause without her. What a pathetic joke.

“Benazir is now exploiting the emergency rule, which has been imposed 13 times in Pakistan’s 60-year history -- an average of once every 4 ½ years. She fled Pakistan in 1999 because of her massive corruption, and lived comfortably in Dubai and London. Benazir and her husband, a man who came to be known in Pakistan as ‘Mr. 10%,’ have been accused of stealing more than $1 billion from Pakistan's treasury. Benazir is appealing a money-laundering conviction by the Swiss courts involving about $11 million. Corruption cases in Britain and Spain are ongoing. She came back on 18 October 07 when Musharaff imprisoned all the judges, and dropped all corruption charges against Benazir. People on the streets now call her party (the Pakistan People's Party) the Pervez (Musharaff ) People's Party.

“While she was supposedly under a four-day house arrest at her chic Islamabad residence last week, 50 or so of her party members were comfortably allowed to join her. She addressed the media twice from her garden, protected by Musharraf police. Any other politician who gives an interview goes straight to prison.

“Her political posturing is all for show. She praises Bush’s war on terror, yet when she was Prime Minister she recognized the Taliban -- making Pakistan one of only three governments in the world to do so.”

On 18 October 07, Benazir returned to Karachi, Pakistan after a "self-imposed exile” of eight years. As a crowd of 150,00 turned out to welcome her, two bombs killed 140 people and wounded 450. The blasts completely destroyed three police vans and killed at least 20 policemen in the vehicles.

Musharraf called the attacks a "conspiracy against democracy".

Australian Prime Minister John Howard called them the work of al-Qaeda.

Fatima calls them a false flag operation, possibly done by Benazir’s own party.

“The last thing we need is to be tied to a neocon agenda through a puppet like Benazir.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-bhutto14nov14,0,2482408.story?...

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.1563631120"

"Pakistan: The "Other" Bhutto"

"December 14, 2007

There are deep divisions within the Bhutto family. In 1996, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Benazir's younger brother and her political opponent, was brutally gunned down just steps from his house in Karachi, while his sister was the prime minister.

The authorities claimed he died in a police shootout with his body guards, but the public -- depending on whom you talk to -- point fingers at Benazir and her husband Asif ali Zardari.

Fatima is Murtaza's eldest daughter. A graduate of Columbia University, the 25-year-old spends her days writing and campaigning against her aunt, who, she says, is "one of the most corrupt leaders the world has seen."

"Her legacy as a two-time prime minister is a legacy of gross corruption. She is estimated to have stolen $1.5 to $3 billion from the Pakistani treasury. It's one of state violence..."

"Benazir needs to be tried in court for the crimes that she has committed. We do not see eye to eye on anything and we do not subscribe to her distorted version of democracy."

Source: FrontLine"