PAKISTAN/FILE: Pakistan rebel chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti body is buried as security tight on streets ahead of more expected violent demonstrations by his supporters

The body of nationalist rebel chieftain Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was buried on Friday (September 1) after Pakistan troops found it the previous day under rubble in a cave in the southwest province of Baluchistan, where he was killed in fighting with government forces last weekend. Bugti, 79, a former provincial governor, was killed on Saturday (August 26) during an assault on his hideout in the remote hills of gas-rich Baluchistan, Pakistan's poorest and least populated province. Only about 30 members of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti's tribe attended the funeral at his family's ancestral graveyard in Dera Bugti, a town 245 km (153 miles) southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta. They were outnumbered by security personnel. The government says Bugti and an unknown number of his men were killed when the cave they were in collapsed after a huge explosion during the fighting, 265 km (165 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta. A senior Baluchistan official and an Interior Ministry official said 50 or more people -- both rebels and troops -- were killed in the fighting on Saturday but the military confirmed the death of only four officers and a soldier. The government says security forces did not intend to kill Bugti. Pakistan's Deputy Information Minister Yariq Azim said on Sunday (August 27): "It was never our intention to harm him physically. What happened yesterday was something of not government's own doing. The land mines which exploded caused this explosion to bring down the cave. But certainly it was not our intention to kill him." President Pervez Musharraf, a general who came to power in a coup seven years ago, has faced a barrage of criticism for using overwhelming force to put down Bugti's revolt. Bugti led an increasingly violent campaign to win decades-old demands for autonomy and a greater share of profits from the province's resources. The campaign included attacks on gas facilities, infrastructure and security forces. An old-style feudal leader, Bugti had many critics, but in a tribal society where pride and courage are highly valued, the old man's defiance of the Pakistan army burnished his reputation. Baluch political parties plan more protests on Friday, while opposition parties intend to boycott the National Assembly in Islamabad. Analysts say Bugti's death is likely to further inflame opposition in Baluchistan and could stir up other parts of Pakistan where demands for autonomy have simmered since the country's formation nearly 60 years ago. A strike was observed in several Pakistani cities and towns on call of allied opposition on Friday to protest against the killing. Shops and all important business centres were closed and the traffic remained almost off the roads on the streets in Quetta. Stringent security was deployed in the city that has already seen a consecutive four days of rioting and violence. In the sprawling city of Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province, almost all important shopping centres and main markets remained shut.

ITN Source | September 2, 2006

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