London
The husband of slain Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali
Zardari, has rejected the government claims that Al Qaeda terrorists
killed her.
"Al Qaeda has nothing to fear; why would they fear us? Are they our
political opponents?" he said in an interview with The Guardian
newspaper published Tuesday.
"They want to muddy the waters. Even (the late US president John F)
Kennedy's murder is not solved. What do they do? They always find 10
excuses and 10 people to blame, and one to hang," Zardari said.
His comments came after fresh footage showed Bhutto died from an
assassin's bullet rather than from a blow to her head or a bomb
explosion, as claimed by the Pakistan government.
Zardari, who is now co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP),
defended the decision to appoint their politically inexperienced
19-year-old son Bilawal the party chairman. It was crucial to the
survival of Pakistan, he said.
"The party has gone into a very aggressive mode. People are talking
about breaking the country, of forgetting democracy. (They're
saying) 'We've had enough of these generals, let's go for all-out
war'," Zardari said.
"In order to keep that cohesiveness, to channel that anger into a
democratic force, one has to give them a symbol that belongs to
her... That would give them a new hope. That is the reason."
Zardari said a committee of regents, headed by himself, would retain
PPP power until Bilawal has completed his education at Christ Church
College, Oxford University, and is fully groomed to take on his
mother's mantle.
"Slowly we will groom him. He will first complete his studies. When
he's graduated, he will join the party and work for it," Zardari
told the newspaper.
Zardari admitted that Benazir had not named Bilawal her successor -
she had only specified Zardari - but added he believed it was "part
of her legacy".
"If there's no continuity, you do not exist. Only in continuity do
you exist. I'm sure she would have it in her mind that one day her
children would inherit a better kind of Pakistan, not this kind of
volatile and violent one - a better Pakistan," he said.
Zardari also dismissed criticism that Bilawal's appointment was
anti-democratic, saying 52 PPP leaders unanimously took the
decision.
"Everyone agreed upon it. They could have said, 'We accept you but
we would not like a young man to be leading us.' Nobody said that.
In fact, they were happier. ... If that's not democratic, what is?"
he said.
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