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Nawaz Sharif to visit Bhutto tomb Bhutto's cause of death disputed
(about 2 hours later)
Pakistan's main opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, is to visit the grave of his former rival, Benazir Bhutto. Benazir Bhutto's supporters have disputed the Pakistani government's account of how she died, calling it "dangerous nonsense".
She was killed on Thursday during an election rally in an attack the government has blamed on al-Qaeda. A government spokesman said her head was slammed against her vehicle by the blast from a bomb - but colleagues said she died from bullet wounds.
Mr Sharif has said that even if the elections due on 8 January do go ahead, his party will boycott them. A Pakistani militant, accused by the government of being behind the killing, has denied any involvement.
The murder of Benazir Bhutto, he said, means it is impossible to campaign, adding there could be no free and fair elections under President Musharraf. Meanwhile troops patrolled the streets on Saturday trying to quell violence.
At least 31 people have died in widespread civil unrest since her assassination in Rawalpindi. At least 31 people have died in widespread civil unrest since her assassination in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, at the Bhutto family home in Naudero, southern Pakistan, says that given the level of violence it seems surprising that the government is still planning elections for 10 days' time. The shells of burned cars littered the deserted streets of Ms Bhutto's home city of Larkana on Saturday, after overnight rioting.
Profile: Baitullah Mehsud'Al-Qaeda plot' transcript But the authorities are saying they are consulting the political parties and it may well be that they are hoping to secure a consensus about a postponement before making any public announcement, our correspondent adds. Profile: Baitullah Mehsud'Al-Qaeda plot' transcript
When he was prime minister in the 1990s Mr Sharif tried to jail Ms Bhutto on corruption charges, but our correspondent says he is now trying to associate himself with her memory Ms Bhutto was buried on Friday at her family's marble mausoleum. Pakistan's main opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, is to visit the grave of his former rival on Saturday.
Intercepted call
Citing what it said was an intercepted phone call, the interior ministry said Benazir Bhutto's killing had been ordered by an "al-Qaeda leader", Baitullah Mehsud.Citing what it said was an intercepted phone call, the interior ministry said Benazir Bhutto's killing had been ordered by an "al-Qaeda leader", Baitullah Mehsud.
The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, says it is too early to establish the truth of what happened.
Baitullah Mehsud is a tribal leader in Pakistan's South Waziristan region.
Pakistani intelligence services intercepted a call from him in which he allegedly congratulated another militant after Ms Bhutto's death, interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters.Pakistani intelligence services intercepted a call from him in which he allegedly congratulated another militant after Ms Bhutto's death, interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters.
But a spokesman for the South Waziristan tribal leader denied he was involved, calling it "government propaganda".
"He had no involvement in this attack," spokesman Maulana Omar said in a telephone call.
"It is against tribal tradition and custom to attack a woman," he added.
Al-Qaeda and pro-Taleban militants are believed to have been behind dozens of bomb attacks in Pakistan in recent years, in which hundreds of people have died - including many women.
'Soaked in blood'
The government presented video of Benazir Bhutto's last moments at a news conference.
Pakistan is at the brink of civil war, courtesy of the dictatorship Dr Rubab Ahmed, London Have your sayBhutto in her own wordsMourners blame Musharraf
The interior ministry said the primary cause of Ms Bhutto's death appeared to have been a knock on her head as she tried to duck through a sun roof back into her vehicle, and not bullets or shrapnel.
A surgeon who treated her, Dr Mussadiq Khan, said earlier she may have died from a shrapnel wound.
But Ms Bhutto's associates disputed the official account, saying the government was trying to abdicate its responsibility for her security.
"To hear that Ms Bhutto fell from an impact from a bump on a sun roof is absolutely rubbish. It is dangerous nonsense, because it implies there was no assassination attempt," a spokeswoman for Ms Bhutto's PPP party, Sherry Rehman, told the BBC.
"There was a clear bullet wound at the back of the neck. It went in one direction and came out another... My entire car is coated with her blood, my clothes, everybody - so she did not concuss her head against the sun roof."
The interior ministry spokesman, Brig Cheema, insisted that all possible security arrangements had been put in place for Ms Bhutto, and that if she had stayed inside the vehicle she might have survived.
Conflicting versions
The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, says it is too early to establish the truth of how Benazir Bhutto died.
Search for stability continuesShock in home provinceSearch for stability continuesShock in home province
There was, he added, "irrefutable evidence that al-Qaeda, its networks and cohorts were trying to destabilise Pakistan". There have now been so many conflicting versions of who sent the assassin that it is hard for anyone to build up an accurate picture, our security correspondent says.
There have now been so many conflicting versions coming out of Pakistan of how Benazir Bhutto died and who sent the assassin that it is hard for anyone to build up an accurate picture, our security correspondent says.
Both al-Qaeda and the Taleban are perfectly plausible culprits since they hated everything the secular Ms Bhutto stood for, he adds.Both al-Qaeda and the Taleban are perfectly plausible culprits since they hated everything the secular Ms Bhutto stood for, he adds.
But critics of President Pervez Musharraf are unlikely to be convinced by his government's insistence that it has proof al-Qaeda ordered the murder.But critics of President Pervez Musharraf are unlikely to be convinced by his government's insistence that it has proof al-Qaeda ordered the murder.
'Pack of lies'
Video of Benazir Bhutto's last moments before the attack in Rawalpindi was shown at a news conference given in Islamabad by the interior ministry.
According to the ministry, the primary cause of Ms Bhutto's death appears to have been a knock on her head as she tried to duck her attacker, and not bullets or shrapnel. Her party denies this.
Brig Cheema, said Ms Bhutto had smashed her head against a lever of her car's sun roof.
Pakistan is at the brink of civil war, courtesy of the dictatorship Dr Rubab Ahmed, London Have your sayBhutto in her own wordsMourners blame Musharraf
She was, he said, trying to shelter inside the car from the gunman, who set off a bomb after opening fire with a gun.
A surgeon who treated her, Dr Mussadiq Khan, said earlier she may have died from a shrapnel wound while Ms Bhutto's security adviser, Rehman Malik, said she had been shot in the neck and chest.
Farooq Naik, a senior official in Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, said the government's explanation of her death was a "pack of lies".
"Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head," he told AFP news agency.
Brig Cheema added that all possible security arrangements had been put in place for Ms Bhutto.
Her supporters say the government did not do enough to protect her.
After a previous attempt on her life in October that killed 130 people, Ms Bhutto accused rogue elements of the Pakistani intelligence services of involvement.After a previous attempt on her life in October that killed 130 people, Ms Bhutto accused rogue elements of the Pakistani intelligence services of involvement.
Election questions Election boycott
A spokesman for President Musharraf has said it is too early to decide whether the parliamentary election on 8 January should be postponed. Ms Bhutto's PPP party says it has still not decided whether to contest elections due on 8 January.
BENAZIR BHUTTO Father led Pakistan before being executed in 1979Spent five years in prisonServed as PM from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996Sacked twice by president on corruption chargesFormed alliance with rival ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in 2006Ended self-imposed exile by returning to Pakistan in OctoberEducated at Harvard and Oxford Obituary: Benazir BhuttoLife in picturesBENAZIR BHUTTO Father led Pakistan before being executed in 1979Spent five years in prisonServed as PM from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996Sacked twice by president on corruption chargesFormed alliance with rival ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in 2006Ended self-imposed exile by returning to Pakistan in OctoberEducated at Harvard and Oxford Obituary: Benazir BhuttoLife in pictures
Mohammad Mian Soomro, the caretaker prime minister, urged all political parties to talk to the government, so that a decision could be reached by consensus. Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said his party would boycott them.
The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, at the Bhutto family home in Naudero, southern Pakistan, says that given the level of violence it seems surprising that the government is still planning elections for 10 days' time.
But the authorities are saying they are consulting the political parties and it may well be that they are hoping to secure a consensus about a postponement before making any public announcement, our correspondent adds.
The election is meant to pave the way for a return to democratic rule, suspended in October 1999 when the then Gen Musharraf seized power through a coup.The election is meant to pave the way for a return to democratic rule, suspended in October 1999 when the then Gen Musharraf seized power through a coup.
In Washington, a US State Department spokesman said the elections should go ahead on schedule if they could be held smoothly and safely. In Washington, a US state department spokesman said the elections should go ahead on schedule if they could be held smoothly and safely.
He said it was important that Pakistan continue down a democratic path. A spokesman for President Musharraf has said it is too early to decide.
But one of the frontrunners to take part in the next US presidential election, the Democratic Party senator Hillary Clinton, said Pakistan's government under President Musharraf had lost all credibility.
She demanded an independent international investigation into Benazir Bhutto's death.