Pakistani paramilitary have orders to shoot on sight as violence continues

RAW STORY Published: Friday December 28, 2007  del.icio.us |
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While not expected to dissolve, Pakistan was roiled with unrest Friday as supporters across the country marched on banks, burned police stations and engaged in shootouts with police. The extent of the violence has paralyzed the nuclear-armed Muslim nation, triggering alarm around the world and throwing scheduled January 8 elections into disarray.

According to the UK Telegraph, "paramilitary rangers were given the authority to use live rounds to stop rioters from damaging property in southern Pakistan."

"We have orders to shoot on sight," Major Asad Ali, the rangers' spokesman, told the paper.

The assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto sent shockwaves around the world on Friday with global leaders condemning the act as markets reacted with fear to the new blow to international stability.

US President George W. Bush led calls for Pakistan to stay on the path of democracy despite the killing which the Pakistan government said was probably the work of Al-Qaeda.

World oil traded near 97 dollars a barrel in international trading, its highest level in a month following the killing of Bhutto, dealers said.

Japanese stocks fell 1.65 percent on Friday and other major markets also followed Wall Streets fall immediately after the killing of Bhutto on Thursday.

Bhutto was laid to rest in her family's ancestral grave Friday to scenes of searing emotion from hundreds of thousands of mourners.

State television said Bhutto was buried at the mausoleum after a mullah led the massive crowd in funeral prayers.

A huge roar greeted her coffin, wrapped in the black, green and red flag of her Pakistan People's Party, as it was borne towards the Bhutto mausoleum in a white vehicle.

It took more than two hours to crawl the five kilometres (3.2 miles) from her family home in Naudero to the private mausoleum in Ghari Khuda Baksh, deep in rural southern Pakistan.

Many mourners wailed and beat their chests in an outpouring of grief as the casket passed the vast crowds hanging out of every building and packing every street corner.

With AFP.