Britain's Channel 4 News is reporting what it calls "the most conclusive evidence yet that Benazir Bhutto was shot, contradicting the government's official version of events..."
(Click below to play video)
Pakistan's Interior Ministry initially said Bhutto died of gunshot wounds to the neck. Then they said that shrapnel from the bomb blast killed her. Now they're saying that she "fell down or perhaps ducked" when she heard gunfire and hit her head on a lever attached to the car's sunroof. According to Javed Iqbal Cheema, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, her death "did not result from a bullet or shrapnel and nothing entered her head."
Many eyewitnesses and forensic experts say this latest explanation is preposterous. But if the Pakistani government is lying, what is their motive? What would they gain by it?
One possibility has been suggested by Ken Robinson, a former US Intelligence officer in Pakistan who now provides analysis for CNN. CNN recently posted a story saying that
[Robinson] suspects Bhutto's enemies are attempting to control her legacy by minimizing the attack's role in her demise. "They're trying to deny her a martyr's death, and in Islam, that's pretty important," Robinson said. Bhutto, he said, threatens to become more influential in death than she was in life.... Only if Bhutto's family allows an autopsy, said Robinson, will the world know for certain the medical reasons behind her death.
Bhutto was buried on Friday. So far, her husband has refused to permit an autopsy.
Followup (1/1/2008): The Pakistani government is now backing away from their claims that Bhutto was killed by hitting the sunroof lever, according to reports by The Chicago Tribune and The Times of India.
Followup (1/2/2008): Today the Pakistani government once again made a reversal in its official explanation. To be precise, this is a reversal of a reversal of a reversal of a... Oh, never mind, I've lost count.
Pakistani newspapers are now carrying the following:
The Ministry of Interior has clarified that a news item has appeared in some papers today regarding an apology tendered by the caretaker minister for interior for certain remarks of the spokesman while briefing the press about the possible cause of the tragic death of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. A press release clarified that the minister did not apologise for any such remarks. As a matter of fact he had merely appealed to the editors to overlook the tone and style of the spokesman which may not have been received well.
Okay, whatever. Just do an autopsy already.
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