February 08, 2008
Scotland Yard: Blast, Not Gunshot, Killed Bhutto
After being called in several weeks ago to probe the death of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Scotland Yard investigators have concluded that a suicide bomb -- not a gunshot -- killed the former prime minister.
The report confirms that a gunman fired shots in Bhutto's direction just before the Dec. 27 blast, as previously reported, but that he missed and she was actually killed by the force of the explosion which caused her head to slam against her car. It also states that the gunman himself set off the bomb.
Scotland Yard's conclusions mostly mesh with those put forth by the Pakistani government, which, under the direction of President Pervez Musharraf, invited the investigators to examine the case in January to try to quell rumors that it had manipulated information about her death.
Bhutto's party immediately disputed the findings and reiterated its calls for a U.N. investigation. The opposition also pointed to problems with the investigations, which were complicated by the lack of an autopsy and the fact that Pakistani officials may have destroyed evidence by hosing down the scene soon after the bombing.
Scotland Yard's report comes just weeks before Pakistan's elections, which were pushed back six weeks to Feb. 18.
