Archived coverage: Political unrest in Pakistan

Bhutto killed by blast, says Scotland Yard

In findings similar to those of the Pakistani government, Scotland Yard investigators said yesterday that Benazir Bhutto was killed by a head injury resulting from the force of a suicide blast, not by shots fired toward her seconds earlier.

Government role in assassination denied

President Pervez Musharraf vehemently denied yesterday that Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies were behind Benazir Bhutto's assassination and implied that she was partly at fault.

Bhutto legacy passed to son

Acting in accordance with her last wishes, Benazir Bhutto's party named her 19-year-old son as its ceremonial leader and her husband as the executor of its day-to-day affairs as violence that had flared in Pakistan after her assassination subsided yesterday.

Pakistan officials vow to restore order

President Pervez Musharraf expressed determination yesterday to restore law and order after the country was racked by a third day of riots and looting that have killed nearly 50 people since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Pakistan lays blame on Taliban

As slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in her ancestral village yesterday, the government of President Pervez Musharraf laid the blame for her assassination on a Taliban commander and said other politicians were also under threat.

Grief and fury sweep Pakistan

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic opposition leader who had promised to restore democracy in Pakistan, set off a nationwide wave of grief and fury and raised the specter of violent unrest that could threaten the government of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf.

Analysis

Assassination extinguishes best U.S. hope

For months, the Bush administration's hopes for political stability in Pakistan rested on the rising influence of Benazir Bhutto. Her death yesterday shattered those hopes and threatened to paralyze U.S. efforts that hinged in part on her survival: the fight against terrorism, the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and stability in the turbulent region.