By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed the hope that those responsible for the assassination of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto will be found and punished.
“Forces of terrorism are challenging not only Pakistan, but the international community. We hope that the organisers of this crime will be found and appropriately punished,” Putin said Thursday night in a communication to the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to condole the demise of Bhutto.
“As I express our (Russian) solidarity with the people of Pakistan, I would like to pass my sincere and deep condolences to friends and relatives of those killed and hope for a speedy recovery for those injured in the terrorist attack,” Putin said.
The attack on Bhutto occurred when fatal shots were fired by an assassin on her at an election rally in Rawalpindi town near capital Islamabad, who then blew himself up. Initial reports said around 30 people were killed and many injured.
Bhutto, 54, who had twice been the country’s prime minister, was to run in the country’s parliamentary elections Jan 8 as leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October after eight years of self-imposed exile. Her homecoming was overshadowed by a suicide blast, which took the lives of 140 people, and injured 500 as hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets to greet her on her arrival.
Bhutto pledged to fight against extremism and for democratic reforms, and opposed the emergency rule imposed on Nov 3 by President Pervez Musharraf who argued the step was needed to stem the dangerous tide in terror activities in the country.