LSB: Is this yet another civil war for which the White House Fuck-ups will send more U.S. troops? (Not their sons and daughters, of course.) Rioting in Pakistan's major cities is good news for the Taliban! No doubt more U.S. funding will be sent to prop up the Musharraf's regime in order to keep the nukes safe. How many more billions will it take? BTW, where's Bin Laden and how much easier does this chaos allow him to move about the country? Oh, and in addition to the effect on the stock market, there is this bit of news from Bloomberg.com: "[Oil] prices rose earlier because of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's former prime minister." It's hard to see at this point how this is Bush's fault (at least for a few more news cycles when the leaks start to happen), but this ought to speak to the electorate to vote in the primaries for someone with foreign policy experience. Hilary has a built in advisor in Bill, but she comes with a lot of baggage; Biden and Dodd have the most foreign policy experience; Richardson gave the wrong answer (sorry, that's two for you, so you're no longer my choice); but it was Edwards that got a call from Musharraf today, so maybe his previous meetings with foreign leaders puts him ahead of the pack. I hope the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire have been paying attention and will vote for Edwards.Canadian Press: Former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister of an Islamic nation, was assassinated in an attack at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi. She was 54.
"She's dead,'' a Bhutto aide, Imran Hayat, said today as he sobbed in a telephone interview from Rawalpindi General Hospital. Rioting began as her supporters gathered outside the hospital.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Bhutto died in the blast or was shot by the bomber before he blew himself up, Bhutto spokesman Farhatullah Babar told state-run television. Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Cheema said earlier in a phone interview that she was killed in the bombing. At least 15 other people were also killed and more than 60 were injured, police said.
President Pervez Musharraf condemned the killing and appealed for calm in a statement broadcast on state television, after rioting broke out in cities across Pakistan. In Rawalpindi, where the army has its headquarters, shops were torched and Bhutto's backers clashed with police. Unrest broke out in her hometown, Larkana, while in Lahore there were reports of gunfire from some parts of the city, Pakistan's AAJ television reported.
"It was Benazir Bhutto that posed the main threat to pro- Musharraf parties,'' Farzana Shaikh, Pakistan analyst at the London-based Chatham House foreign policy institute, said in a phone interview from Montpellier, France. "Long-term it raises very, very serious questions about the stability of Pakistan.'' (More)
Sky News: Fears Of Civil War After Bhutto Killing. As Benazir Bhutto's supporters riot outside her hospital deathbed, governments and citizens from all over the world are reacting with grief at her assasination.
Acting Secretary General of her party Riaz Khan said: "This is a very tragic incident. It has left a very black hole for Pakistan's masses. Benazir Bhutto was the voice of the Pakistani people. She was killed while Musharraf was sitting there."
Sitting quietly next to her dead body in hospital, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said that he "vowed to fight your war".
His brother Shabbas Sharif said: "I'm shellshocked. It's very bad for this country. Whoever has done this has done the biggest disservice to Pakistan."
He added: "The government must resign, Musharraf must go home, they must hold a very transparent enquiry into Benazir's killing."
The Russian foreign ministry said it feared the country could descend into terrorism or civil war...
Sky's Asia correspondent Alex Crawford said: "It is almost impossible to imagine how much turmoil this is going to cause within Pakistan. There is going to be team of people who will want to avenge her death. There will be team of people who want to capitalise on the turbulence after her death." ...
Fox Business: Wall Street Opens Bearish on Data, Bhutto Death. The market was hit by a series of bad economic and geopolitical news to help spin stocks into the red shortly before the opening bell...
Fears that the economy is slowing were bolstered by a paltry rise of 0.1% in durable goods orders, or items expected to last more than three years. The gauge was far below the 3% increase expected by economists interviewed by Thomson Financial.
Also, news that former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a homicide bombing at a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan pushed futures lower as well. She was shot in the neck during the aftermath of the bombing.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said jobless claims rose by 1,000 last week. It represents the third rise for initial claims in the last four weeks. The quarterly average now stands at the highest level since the third quarter of 2004.
Continuing jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 15 increased by 75,000 to a level unseen since November 2005.
The financials were hurt by more predictions of forthcoming write-downs related to subprime exposure.
"She's dead,'' a Bhutto aide, Imran Hayat, said today as he sobbed in a telephone interview from Rawalpindi General Hospital. Rioting began as her supporters gathered outside the hospital.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Bhutto died in the blast or was shot by the bomber before he blew himself up, Bhutto spokesman Farhatullah Babar told state-run television. Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Cheema said earlier in a phone interview that she was killed in the bombing. At least 15 other people were also killed and more than 60 were injured, police said.
President Pervez Musharraf condemned the killing and appealed for calm in a statement broadcast on state television, after rioting broke out in cities across Pakistan. In Rawalpindi, where the army has its headquarters, shops were torched and Bhutto's backers clashed with police. Unrest broke out in her hometown, Larkana, while in Lahore there were reports of gunfire from some parts of the city, Pakistan's AAJ television reported.
"It was Benazir Bhutto that posed the main threat to pro- Musharraf parties,'' Farzana Shaikh, Pakistan analyst at the London-based Chatham House foreign policy institute, said in a phone interview from Montpellier, France. "Long-term it raises very, very serious questions about the stability of Pakistan.'' (More)
Sky News: Fears Of Civil War After Bhutto Killing. As Benazir Bhutto's supporters riot outside her hospital deathbed, governments and citizens from all over the world are reacting with grief at her assasination.
Acting Secretary General of her party Riaz Khan said: "This is a very tragic incident. It has left a very black hole for Pakistan's masses. Benazir Bhutto was the voice of the Pakistani people. She was killed while Musharraf was sitting there."
Sitting quietly next to her dead body in hospital, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said that he "vowed to fight your war".
His brother Shabbas Sharif said: "I'm shellshocked. It's very bad for this country. Whoever has done this has done the biggest disservice to Pakistan."
He added: "The government must resign, Musharraf must go home, they must hold a very transparent enquiry into Benazir's killing."
The Russian foreign ministry said it feared the country could descend into terrorism or civil war...
Sky's Asia correspondent Alex Crawford said: "It is almost impossible to imagine how much turmoil this is going to cause within Pakistan. There is going to be team of people who will want to avenge her death. There will be team of people who want to capitalise on the turbulence after her death." ...
Fox Business: Wall Street Opens Bearish on Data, Bhutto Death. The market was hit by a series of bad economic and geopolitical news to help spin stocks into the red shortly before the opening bell...
Fears that the economy is slowing were bolstered by a paltry rise of 0.1% in durable goods orders, or items expected to last more than three years. The gauge was far below the 3% increase expected by economists interviewed by Thomson Financial.
Also, news that former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a homicide bombing at a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan pushed futures lower as well. She was shot in the neck during the aftermath of the bombing.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said jobless claims rose by 1,000 last week. It represents the third rise for initial claims in the last four weeks. The quarterly average now stands at the highest level since the third quarter of 2004.
Continuing jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 15 increased by 75,000 to a level unseen since November 2005.
The financials were hurt by more predictions of forthcoming write-downs related to subprime exposure.
No comments:
Post a Comment