Pakistan

The terrible news has now been with us long enough that I feel the time is right to make a few brief comments myself. I did not wish to do so during the initial period after the news broke: it was better for more informed commentators to take the lead. We do not need a too-emotional response in this particular situation, and by and large the national media have been reasonably disciplined so far.

I met Benazir Bhutto a few months ago, at an event arranged by Councillor Rehman Chishti, who had been her adviser for a long time and they knew each other well. Along with the others there, I gained a strong impression of someone whose heart was very much with her country and its people, whatever the truths or otherwise of her own past (apparently the corruption allegations were never proven anyway).

Now the world has lost one of the best -- if not the best -- of all possible chances to restore Pakistan to a state of normalcy over the next few years. That appears to have been scuppered, at least for the time being. Perhaps a new political leaser will emerge who has sufficient of Ms Bhutto's qualities to re-awaken that hope.

The lady appeared to know more than many might have realised about certain matters, though this information was censored from the BBC's reporting of her interview with Sir David Frost. This is the unedited version:



In the meantime, regardless of who really was the murderer or murdering organisation behind Ms Bhutto's death, it is the extremists and militant fanatics who have won -- for now! This battle goes to them, but the ideological and political war is far from being over...