LAT: Bhutto's long and tangled list of enemies

Bhutto's long and tangled list of enemies
By Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- It may have been a single assassin who killed former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but if so, he could have been working with any number of Islamic extremist groups, U.S. intelligence officials and South Asia analysts said Thursday.

Bhutto had returned from eight years of self-imposed exile with a pledge to reform Pakistan in ways that would upset entrenched political interests, powerful fundamentalist religious organizations, and Al Qaeda and the Taliban. She was aligned with the U.S., and vowed to crack down on the increasingly popular radicalism spreading through the country. And she had publicly accused the government's military and intelligence establishments of coddling terrorists.

As a result, the list of people and groups considered Bhutto's archenemies was a long one. But determining who killed her, and why, could be a complicated and confounding investigation, say current and former U.S. officials and analysts. They say it is not likely that someone working alone killed the daughter of a Pakistani political dynasty.

A more likely scenario, they say, is that Al Qaeda was ultimately responsible, because it has long targeted Bhutto and stands to gain the most from the political destabilization that is certain to follow her slaying. If that turns out to be the case, it is also likely that additional extremist organizations were involved, analysts say.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-suspects28dec28,0,562557.story?coll=la-home-center

I don't think we'll ever really find out...unless there's some major break.