Conspiracy Theories Thrive in Pakistan

Few Agree on Cause Of Bhutto's Death
As Investigation Deepens.
By PETER WONACOTT
January 9, 2008; Page A6
The Wall Street Journal

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- As the probe into Benazir Bhutto's assassination deepens, many Pakistanis already have strongly held theories about who killed her. The problem for President Pervez Musharraf's government: Few share its version of what happened.

Iktiadar Ali Shah, a 52-year-old who served in the former prime minister's security detail in the 1980s, says he doesn't doubt how Ms. Bhutto died. He says that while moving toward her white bulletproof car as it crawled through throngs of supporters after a Dec. 27 campaign rally, he heard three or four shots from two guns. Then Mr. Shah saw a huge blast, which he suspects was triggered by remote control to simulate a suicide bomber. His chief suspect: Pakistan's intelligence agencies.

Another man, one of many who have gathered at makeshift memorials for Ms. Bhutto in this army-garrison town outside the capital, Islamabad, has a very different theory.

"This was the West's attempt to destabilize our country and take control of our nuclear weapons," he shouts, standing amid the scattered rose petals to mark the spot of her death. The man, balding and dressed in a checkered sports coat, refuses to give his name. "Call me Pakistan," he says.
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