Last Days of Zulfiqar ali bhutto Part 8 : [ Ссылка ]


The pre-dawn hanging execution of deposed Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto left Pakistan stunned today. But sporadic demonstrations here and in the neighboring Indian state of Kashmir raised the specter of a sharper reaction Thursday when Bhutto supporters heve called for a national day of prayer.

Nearly 500 Bhutto supporters defied martial law regulations today to shout antigovernment slogans and battle police in Liaqat Park here, the place where Bhutto began the movement that brought down Gen. Ayub Khan's government 10 years ago.

"Death to Zia and Zia's children," women shouted, referring to Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Zia ul-Haq, before police moved in swinging their metal-tipped bamboo staves.

Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Bhutto's former finance minister who acted as his defense attorney, was carried shoulder high by the weeping, emotional crowd, mostly women.

As they waved the flag of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, the crowd shouted "Revenge, revenge, revenge." Some women tore at their clothes and taunted the police, "Shame on you, you couldn't save hime."

The reaction in the capital city of Islamabad, 15 miles north of here, was more subdued but still angry. Employes in government offices wept openly, and an elderly woman snapped, "This is the most disgraceful day in Pakistan's history."

One man warned, "Now this country will be like Iran."

The most violent demonstrations, though, were in the heavily Moslem Indian state of Kashmir, which borders Pakistan.Three persons were killed and seven injured in clashes between pro-Bhutto demonstrators and police in scattered parts of the state.

Bhutto, a charismatic, Western-educated leader who ruled Pakistan from 1971 to 1977, was hanged under unusual secrecy at 2 this morning in the central jail here after being convicted a year ago of ordering the murder of a political opponent.

Bhutto looked gaunt from his 18 months in prison. Although prison authorities allowed him a last bath to wash away the filth of his last 11 days in a dirty and bug-infested cell, they refused to bring him a final meal supplied by friends.

The hanging was carried out despite pleas for clemency from world leaders including President Carter and Pope John Paul II.

The body of Bhutto, who was 51, was quickly buried in the family graveyard near the town of Larkana.

From this walled cemetery, Bhutto may pose a greater threat in death than he ever did in life to Zia, who has called for national elections in November. Zia ousted Bhutto in a coup in July 1977, following an election in which Bhutto is widely charged with having rigged the vote.

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