Bhutto shot dead, Pak erupts in angry protests

Musharraf calls it a terrorist act, no word on Jan 8 poll yet.

Pakistan's charismatic leader Benazir Bhutto was shot dead today when gunmen opened fire at her just before a suicide bomber blew himself up at an election rally addressed by her in Rawalpindi, killing more than 20 people and injuring several others and triggering violent protests across the country.

Reports said five bullets were fired, one of which pierced her neck. The 54-year-old leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was rushed to Rawalpindi general hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Rahman Malik, the PPP chairperson's security advisor, said some people fired at her vehicle before the suicide attacker blew himself up.

"At 6:16 pm, she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a PPP member who was at the hospital. She is survived by her husband Asif Ali Zardari and two children.

Malik said Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she was getting into the car after addressing thousands of supporters to canvass for the January 8 parliamentary election.

After the firing, before her supporters could realise what had happened, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the rally, killing at least 20 people and injuring several others. Her car was badly damaged in the explosion.

Several people who were around her car were blown to pieces. A TV reporter at the scene said the suicide bomber's head was found almost 70 feet from the site of the blast. Eyewitnesses said body parts were strewn across the area.

This was the second suicide attack on Bhutto since she returned to Pakistan from exile. Nearly 140 people were killed in two suicide blasts during her homecoming rally in Karachi on October 19.

Pakistan police used tear gas and batons to break up an angry demonstration in Peshawar, an AFP reporter on the scene said.

Several people were shot dead as rioting broke out in several cities across Pakistan. At least 10 people killed in rioting in Karachi, Bhutto's home town. Protesters burnt tyres and blocked major roads, triggering a massive traffic jam in some places.

In Peshawar, more than 100 Bhutto supporters blocked the main trunk road in the northwestern city, torching billboards and posters of the main party behind President Pervez Musharraf, a Bhutto rival, before police moved in.

Furious protesters took to the streets in groups, some of them opening fire in the air and screaming. One local police station was pelted with stones, as were some private vehicles, the reporter said. Demonstrators were also seen ripping down the campaign posters of rival candidates.

There were also protests in the central city of Multan, where around 100 people from the PPP burnt tyres on the streets and blocked traffic.

Residents said police had stepped up patrols. Local traders announced a three-day period of mourning when shops and markets would be shut.

President Pervez Musharraf has condemned the incident as a terrorist act and announced a three-day mourning. US President George W Bush has demanded that those responsible for the killing of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto be brought to justice.

"The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy," he said.