Interior ministry spokesman, Javed Cheema, claimed security forces had intercepted a conversation that involved congratulations between al-Qaeda leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and another militant on Thursday evening after the incident.

Mehsud has denied any involvement in Bhutto’s death.

Alternative ideas are inevitably circulating amongst citizens and the media, sparked predominantly by inconsistent reports of her cause of death.

Cheema reported that Bhutto was killed from injuries incurred by the car’s sunroof as she came under attack. This is inconsistent with initial reports that point to gunshot wounds or shrapnel as reasons for death.

A senior official of the Pakistan People’s Party, Farooq Naik, attacked the government’s account as a ‘pack of lies’, saying Bhutto’s murder was ‘an irreparable loss and they are turning it into a joke with such claims.’ Naik maintained that

‘two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head...a lot of people in Pakistan believe that there may be some kind of conspiracy behind the assassination’.

Dr Mussadiq Khan, Bhutto’s surgeon had said earlier she may have died from a shrapnel wound. Bhutto’s security adviser, Rehman Malik, stated she was shot in the neck and chest. The spokeswoman for Bhutto, Sherry Rehman, also says she saw a bullet wound in Ms Bhutto’s head after the assassination.

Adding to the confusion, Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera’s Pakistani correspondent, said people had noticed the car Bhutto was travelling in was unmarred by Thursday’s attack, undermining the government’s report.

Suspicion also surrounds the method adopted by authorities after the attack, namely hosing down the street soon after the blast which undoubtedly removed valuable evidence.

Photograph courtesy ABC.

Al-Jazeera: Al-Qaeda blamed for Bhutto killing
BBC: Bhutto killing blamed on al-Qaeda
BBC: Mourners turn anger on Musharraf
Radio National: Pakistan Opposition leader seen without wound

R.I.P democracy
for a moment we weren’t just uncovered meat
- or wrapped up meat -
whichever way you want me

R.I.P democracy
For a moment we had hopes and dreams
I knew it would be swept from under ya feet

I saw ‘em pullin’ threads and tyin’ ‘em
To the truck and spyin’, then
Startin’ up the motor, then
Leave ya in the gutter with a piece of ‘im
And all this pointless sufferin’
I’ve had a gutful of this masculine trend

Rest in pieces our dear Benazir
You’re best 6ft under with what’s goin’ on here

The answers to these questions remain unclear. While key donor the U.S. blatantly favours Israel, the final destination of funds may remain under suspicion.

Palestinian PM, Salam Fayyad, is seeking $5.6bn from foreign sources to initiate a three-year plan to rebuild and develop deteriorating Palestinian institutions, including security forces.

The European Union is currently offering support for basic services in the Palestinian territories under the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) program which was established in June 2006.

In March 2008 the EU plans to replace TIM with an ammended operation designed to avoid endorsing Hamas, a ‘terrorist’ organization by EU definition, post-election victory. Hamas representatives were not invited to the recent aid meeting in Paris, leading members to label the initiative as a ‘dangerous conspiracy’.

Former British PM, Tony Blair, now a member of the ‘Quartet’, has also taken an interest in Palestinian aid, namely announcing a sewerage plan in Gaza, currently under Hamas jurisdiction, that is expected to effect 1.5 million people.

Charity organisation Oxfam remains pessimistic that donations are being poured ‘into a leaking bucket,’ on the grounds that existing aid is already seriously hampered by Israeli restrictions on movement.

Nevertheless, Blair commented at a meeting in Jerusalem in November,

‘it is a strong beginning for what is a critical part of this process because without hope of prosperity and a rise in living standards and giving people an economic stake in the future ... then the politics will never succeed.’

The donations are not expected to be a one-off payment. Fayyad has numerous short-term expenses and government salaries. U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice described the Palestinian economy as in ’serious budgetary crisis. This conference (Paris Palestinian Aid) is literally the government’s last hope to avoid bankruptcy’.

The Age: Global donors pledge $7.4 bln dlrs for Palestinians
Aljazeera: Where will Palestinian aid go?
The Epoch Times: Blair unveils project to aid Palestinian economy

Australian Labor leader, Kevin Rudd, recently claimed Prime Ministerial victory over a humiliated John Howard whom after eleven long years suffered a mighty twin blow; not only a party defeat but more impressively, the loss of his local seat of Bennelong to first-timer, Maxine McKew.

But who is Kevin Rudd? Where on earth did he come from? And what can the international community expect from this new leadership?

According to critics, not much.

Rudd, originally from rural Queensland, was left penniless and fatherless at the age of eleven. His previous hardships reflect only slightly in his policies which have been likened to those of Tony Blair; although promises for social reform and inclusion are made, deconstruction of the conservative sociopolitical frameworks erected by Margaret Thatcher - or in this case, over a decade of Liberal domination - are cautiously avoided.

Let me elaborate.

Despite ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, Rudd recently attended the Bali climate change conference only to mimic the commitment-phobia Howard displayed when it came to reduction targets, refusing to bind any of them.

The new PM is leaving mostly intact the controversial (and rather excessive) federal military intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, originally on the basis of claims of high levels of sexual assault and rape amongst indigenous communities.

Despite claiming on his campaign website kevin07.com that he will phase out troops in Afghanistan, other sources such as The Australian newspaper report that Rudd has otherwise committed to stay in battle, and that he has also suggested remaining in Iraq for training purposes.

Rudd, like Howard and Bush, makes no mystery of his religious orientation or his desire to connect with the supposedly growing trend of Christian fundamentalism in Australia. He commented on Australian in-depth news program, Compass on May 8, 2007;

‘...there is plainly also a trend towards more fundamentalist forms of Christian expression in Australia. You don’t have to be a Rhode Scholar to drive through the suburbs of outer metro Australia anywhere to see that those churches which are growing rapidly are charismatic and fundamentalist churches.’

It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that the rights of same-sex couples will continue to stagnate under Rudd’s leadership as they did under Howard’s.

Additionally, Rudd proudly assures that Australia’s alliance with the United States will remain as strong as ever (despite polls indicating a growing animosity amongst Australian people toward President Bush and his numerous crusades).

Considering Rudd was elected into parliament in 1998, it is fair to say he has come a long way - fast. It will be interesting to see if he can take Australia just as far, or as critics fear, keep us stuck in this neo-liberal mud.

The Age: 20 things you need to know about Kevin Rudd
The Australian: In praise of Kevin Rudd’s cautious conservatism
The Independent: The big question: Who is Kevin Rudd and is Australia about to vote him their new PM?
Compass: Kevin Rudd: The God factor

I was puttin’ footprints in the rubble
Assurin’ they don’t lead to trouble
I just yearned to see you with my eyes
and not in pixilated lies

Peakin’ through ya burqua and I understand the stare
Peakin’ through ya burqua and suddenly...
I’m aware

I am aware

I’m a blondie, I’m a blondie
And-a through my clothes ya see my body
You must think I got the money
and my life all “Emirate”

I’m runnin’ low, near to empty
Makes ya get a new incentive
Takin’ purses from the plenty
I wouldn’t put it past you or me.

I know I come from far away
My darling we are more the same
A pawn on a board in a chess game
against computer on advanced play

I’m on first world minimum wage
and your third world hands look slaved and grey
This ain’t no pageant speech mmm k?
I think about you every day

Peakin’ through ya burqua and I understand the stare
Peakin’ through ya burqua and suddenly...
I’m aware

I am aware

I’m a blondie, I’m a blondie
And-a through my clothes you see my body
You must think I got the money
and my life all “Emirate”

I’m runnin’ low, near to empty
Makes ya get a new incentive
Takin’ purses from the plenty
I wouldn’t put it past you or me.

Mother and daughter, Bahariya, Egypt
Photographer: Emily Pleskun (05.12.07)