EDITORIAL: Volatile Pakistan devours Bhutto

The assassination of two-time Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto ahead of national elections is a lamentable development in a country desperate for stability and propriety in government.

No amount of controversy over international and domestic corruption charges against Bhutto and her husband can obscure the fact that this killing has seriously compromised Pakistan's prospects of moving away from the violence, corruption and despotism that has saddled the nation since its inception.

It is not clear at this time who is responsible. But it may not really matter: There is a wide range of political, sectarian and terrorist interests that will be delighted at her death and would be proud to have caused it. Hunting down those who planned this attack, as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has promised to do, is not in itself going to reduce the level of threat faced by democratic politicians, nor necessarily stem growing unease at the government's capacity to protect them.

Musharraf may not have had any personal role in this killing, but his role in upending constitutional processes and manipulating the machinery of state to feather his own political nest has come at the expense of national security, social stability and the credibility of the government. Bhutto's killing must be seen in the light of a state that in recent months has devoted more resources to suppressing legitimate dissent and free speech than closing down channels of terrorist activity.

Musharraf has promised much to the international community in his time as president, especially in regard to keeping a lid on remote, unruly areas that act as a safe haven for al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other militants. His achievements have been mixed, to put it politely, but his domestic agenda has not inspired confidence -- hardly a surprising record for a military strongman.

Nonetheless, Bhutto's insistence that she maintain very close proximity to her supporters during the election campaign has contributed not only to this terrible development but also to the death of scores of her supporters in a number of attacks.

A combination of ill-timed courage and risible levels of government security effectively invited her many enemies to wreak havoc.

Washington in particular will be dismayed by the stark fact that Bhutto's assassination was perfectly avoidable.

The bigger question that must be asked now is how this nuclear-armed country can forge some kind of consensus among its non-militant political and religious groups on restoring confidence in the government and the political system, the volatility of which, even under the most optimistic conditions, will unnerve the international community for years to come.

Bhutto's death is first and foremost a tragedy for Pakistan and its long-suffering majority of ordinary, moderate people.

But it is also a terrible blow to democratic and secular principles -- in Pakistan, in our own region and anywhere else in the world where democracy is under threat.