Gulf press fears chaos in Pakistan after Benazir’s assassination

Newspapers in the Gulf, home to many Pakistani expatriates, called for calm in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, which some papers called inevitable.

“It is strongly urged that charged sentiments be turned to keeping calm instead of igniting further trouble,” said the Khaleej Times, an English-language daily in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“Now, there is much fear of massive rioting breaking out across the length and breadth of Pakistan, prompting a return to emergency (law) and undoing the election cycle,” it said.

“There can be little argument… Pakistan is at its worst in a very long time,” it added.

The Arabic-language UAE daily Al-Khaleej said it feared for the future in Pakistan after the two-time prime minister was killed in a gun and suicide attack.

“What is happening in Pakistan makes us put hands over hearts in fear and alarm,” it said. “Our hearts go out to Pakistan,” it added.

In Saudi Arabia, the English-language daily Arab News said in its editorial Benazir’s killing was “targeting Pakistan… (and) meant to plunge Pakistani politics into chaos.”

“It is up to decent people now to frustrate the murderers and prove their evil hopes wrong,” it said.

“Once the immediate shock of Benazir’s murder has sunk in, her supporters must recognise that this was a wicked blow aimed against Pakistan itself, not simply at the PPP,” it added.

The pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat called the assassination inevitable because Benazir had posed a threat to extremists.

“It is not strange that she was killed… This woman was beyond the ability of her foes to bear,” it said.

“Anyway, her platform was suicidal… she demanded a curb on ‘extremism factories’ in religious schools,” it added.

Some newspapers noted that Benazir compromised her personal security by returning home despite threats against her, with one calling her actions foolhardy.

“It was always deemed a courageous act to return to Pakistan this time to fight the forthcoming elections. But courageous acts can, in retrospect, also be deemed foolhardy,” the UAE English-language daily Gulf News wrote.

The Saudi Arab News also said Benazir’s “undoubted personal courage led her to underestimate the dangers.”

“The suicide bombing of her convoy during her triumphal return to Karachi ought to have taught her what she was up against. Yet, though her home became a fortress, she eschewed many obvious safety precautions when she was on the political stomp,” it said.