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Published on Monday 31 December 2007 20:45

GEORGE GALLOWAY, MP, ON THE DEATH OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

BENAZIR Bhutto is yet another martyr from a family whose tragedy would have taxed Shakespeare himself. Her father, both brothers and now she have been murdered one way or another whilst serving Pakistan.

I have no doubt that Benazir has been murdered by the dictatorship of "president" General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf. The professionalism of the assassination, the way in which the killer managed to get within pistol range…the decoy "suicide bomb" story…all point to the intelligence apparatus of the dictatorship being involved in the crime… A terrible wave of violence and extremism will now sweep and perhaps break Pakistan.

I was lucky enough to be Benazir's friend from the time she arrived thin and bleeding from her ears as a result of ill-treatment in the Rawalpindi jail in the early 1980s. I was with her when she became the first elected woman leader of a Muslim country in 1988, with her too when she was twice deposed with western collusion.

She was the bravest woman I ever met, bright, brave and beautiful. I planned to be with her on the campaign trail from January 2. I am broken-hearted that I will never see her again.

www.georgegalloway.com