Bhutto was killed by bomb shrapnel(Gov't official)

[maddezmom]

Source: CNN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in a chaotic funeral at her ancestral home Friday as officials revealed she was killed by shrapnel not gunshots and blamed al Qaeda militants.


~snip~

Violence had earlier erupted in Pakistan in the hours before Bhutto's funeral started, with at least nine people reported killed and banks, train stations and cars torched. Watch video from Bhutto's funeral procession »

It was initially reported that Bhutto, 54, was killed by the bullets of an assassin who blew himself up after firing the shots following a public rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

But government officials said Friday that a medical report confirmed that Bhutto was killed by shrapnel from the blast -- from which at least 28 more people died and at least 100 were wounded.

An Interior Ministry spokesman also told the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan that terrorist group al Qaeda had claimed responsibility for the assassination.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/28/pakistan.friday/index.html?section=cnn_latest

---

~snip~

Authorities initially said the slain Pakistani opposition leader died from bullet wounds. But Dr. Mussadiq Khan, a surgeon who treated her, said Friday that she died from shrapnel that hit her on the right side of the skull.


He also says Bhutto had no heart beat or pulse when she arrived at the hospital and that doctors failed in their efforts to resuscitate her.


Bhutto was assassinated while leaving a political rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday.


Her assailant first opened fire on the former prime minister, then blew himself up, killing Bhutto and at least 20 other people.


A Pakistani Interior Ministry spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema, also said the medical report on Bhutto indicates that no bullet wound was found on her body. The reason for the discrepancy with the initial reports was not immediately clear.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/071228/world/pakistan_bhutto_surgeon_1

[Warren Stupidity]

1. The reason for the discrepancy with the initial reports was not immediately clear

But over time it will all just sink down into the tar pit known as the memory hole.

[Missy M]

2. They did mention in the article....

that the bomber did fire a gun, so maybe that is why it was assumed it was the cause of death. Shrapnel from a bomb sounds logical to me.

[havocmom]

5. Oh, let's try to keep that discrepancy up as a topic around water coolers everywhere

Perhaps people have learned not to believe what they are told over what those at the scene heard since the days of the Grassy Knoll. Yeah, I know, I'm a foolish romantic, but I always maintain hope for the collective learning curve.

My pet theory for the discrepancy: people in high places don't want us wondering who got close enough to shoot and how easy that may have been. Nothing renders a crime scene useless quite so well as a good explosion. And nothing points at the usual terrorist label quite so well as that same explosion.

Pavlov has adherents working in shadow governments.

[Missy M]

8. The bomber managed to kill many others with the bomb...

so why not the cause of death for Bhutto. The conspiracy was the assassination of Bhutto not whether it was the bomb or the gun.

[havocmom]

14. Ah, but there is an important difference between using a gun or a bomb

A gun is more personal, more direct, more defiantly an assassination.

Bomb is haphazard and less definite in who the target is, or even IF there was a particular target.

Bomb more easily blamed on the generic scapegoat, the TERRORISTS. Gun more likely the insurance of a particular person or group.

Bomb is a swell way to destroy evidence. Not unlike a fire in cheney's office suite.

Gun is specific. Bomb is not.

Gun? Musharraf failed to protect rival

Bomb? Hey, how can ANYBODY prevent that?

Oh, and here's a teaser from Raw Story:

Uncovered: Musharraf's police abandoned posts before shooting; Can't explain why no autopsy done: Developing...

[bdamomma]

3. how do you say coverup??

someone wanted her out of the way, she was too much of risk to Musharraf, and he is too hellbent on keeping his power. Sickening to do this to such a vibrant progressive woman.

[global1]

4. From Musharraf's Perspective It's Easier To Defend Shrapnel vs......

Gunshots as the reason for death. If people are critical of the security it's harder to defend a suicide bomber than a shooter.

[badgervan]

6. One Little Problem.....

the photographer who took the last pics says he heard three shots, then she slumped into the vehicle - before the explosion.

[CottonBear]

7. Right. I heard that interview as well. He saw her shot & photographed the blast . n/t

[maddezmom]

9. here is a link to the interview: Bhutto photographer: 'Gunshots rang out and she went down'

*****warning graphic pics at the link**********

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/bhutto.photographer/index.html

[maddezmom]

10. Now it's being reported on CNN that she died from hitting her head on the car

not from a gunshot or shrapnel.

[snappyturtle]

11. I'm listening to this report as we speak.....interesting since yesterday

we were shown the gun that shot her!

[maddezmom]

13. Benazir Bhutto died from hitting her car's sunroof; no bullet or shrapnel found in her, Pakistan’sI

Benazir Bhutto died from hitting her car's sunroof; no bullet or shrapnel found in her, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry says.

CNN breaking banner.

[havocmom]

16. and we should all take Musharraf employee's word for things

CNN, yeah, somebody got it right earlier today. CNN = Contains No News. ;)

[frylock]

17. what the fuck?!

that's what they're saying? seriously? this is ridiculous.

[K Gardner]

12. This is all just beyond the pale of believability. n/t

[havocmom]

15. Next up, it was a stampede of elephants

Do they cremate or bury?

Raw Story is working on something about police leaving posts....

[havocmom]

18. Sorta like 'she had it coming...

because of the provocative clothing she was wearing she refused to wear her seat belt.'

All her fault. Yep, she didn't wear a seatbelt and she bumped her head. The Pakistani Wurlitzer is up and running.

[Thor_MN]

19. Does anyone know where Joe Scarborough was?

[City Lights]

24. Wow, that's even less believable than bush and the pretzel.

How can that even be reported with a straight face? :eyes:

[AngryOldDem]

20. None of this is adding up.

The explanations are changing almost minute by minute.

If she died from hitting her head on the car's sunroof lever -- as they are now claiming -- are we to assume that there were no gunshots, just the blast from the suicide bomber, and that the percussion from the explosion flung her back just hard enough to sustain a fatal skull fracture? (I assume she was thrown backward because they said she had a broken neck.) Could that happen if the explosion occurred behind the car, as the video seems to indicate?

:shrug:

[villager]

21. the bullet tumbled through the air, went through two people, and wound up in pristine condition ..

...on the hospital stretcher!

Oh, wait...

[MilesColtrane]

22. Bhutto died after hitting sun roof. CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/28/pakistan.friday/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

SLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a fractured skull after hitting her head on part of her car's sun roof, not as a result of a bullet or bomb shrapnel, a spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry said Friday.

Nothing entered the opposition leader's head, said spokesman Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema.

When the gunshots rang out and the explosion occurred, Bhutto "fell down or perhaps ducked" and apparently hit her head on a lever, Cheema said, adding that the lever was stained with blood.


WTF? Didn't Mushy tell 'em to get their stories straight?

[indio55555]

23. Per Javed Iqbal "lever of the sunroof hit her"

:wtf:???

[havocmom]

25. yeah, AFTER this guy shot her

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/12/28/vo.bhutto.gun.ptv