Pakistan indicated yesterday it would delay next month's elections because of the turmoil caused by the death of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, as a bitter dispute erupted over how the opposition leader was killed.
Violent protests and looting that have left at least 33 people dead have rocked the nation since Bhutto was assassinated in the northern city of Rawalpindi on Thursday.
The US and Western powers have urged Pakistan to commit to the democratic process in the aftermath of her death, but leading opposition figure Nawaz Sharif has already said his party would boycott the polls.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which has accused the government of trying to cover up the details of her death, has said it will take a decision today on whether to take part in the parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 8.
Pakistan's commission said it would hold a meeting tomorrow to decide the election's fate, but indicated a delay was possible.
"All activities pertaining to pre-poll arrangements, including printing of ballot papers and logistics as well as training of polling personnel, have been adversely affected," it said in a statement.
In some places, the commission said, the security situation was "not conducive" to holding the elections that Bhutto had come home from exile in October to contest.
It cited the death of an election candidate in a bomb blast and said election commission offices in nine districts had been set on fire and that voter lists had been "reduced to ashes."
The polls would lack credibility without the participation of Bhutto's PPP, which has been infuriated by the government's official account of their leader's death.
Bhutto died after a suicide attack targeted her vehicle at a campaign rally in the northern city of Rawalpindi. Early reports and witnesses said she had been shot before a bomb exploded nearby.
However, the interior ministry said she had no gunshot or shrapnel wounds. It said Bhutto died after smashing her head on her car's sunroof as she tried to duck.
The ministry also blamed al-Qaeda, saying intelligence services had intercepted a call from Baitullah Mehsud, considered the extremist group's top leader for Pakistan.
Senior members of Bhutto's party dismissed the government's version of events as "lies."
"There was a bullet wound I saw that went in from the back of her head and came out the other side," said Bhutto's spokeswoman Sherry Rehman, who was involved in washing her body for burial. "This is ridiculous, dangerous nonsense because it is a cover-up of what actually happened."
Farooq Naik, Bhutto's lawyer, said Bhutto had a second bullet wound in the abdomen.
Bhutto was an outspoken critic of al-Qaeda-linked militants blamed for scores of bombings in Pakistan and had received threats.
But she had also accused elements from the intelligence services of involvement in a suicide attack on a rally in October that left 139 dead and which she only narrowly escaped.
Maulana Omar, a spokesman for alleged al-Qaeda kingpin Mehsud, denied involvement in the attack and expressed grief over Bhutto's death.
"This is a conspiracy of the government, army and intelligence agencies," said the spokesman from Waziristan, a lawless tribal region where al-Qaeda leaders, including possibly Osama bin Laden, are alleged to be hiding.
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