Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson, founder of the Bozeman-based Central Asia Institute, was preparing to celebrate his 50th birthday in Pakistan Thursday when he heard the “tragic” news that opposition leader Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated.

“We were actually going to a party at a small tea house and heard it on the radio and went right back to the hotel,” he said in a phone interview from his hotel in the capital city of Islamabad late Thursday night. “We called off the birthday party, of course, and CAI staff is very distraught.”

Within hours, he said, there was rioting in the streets, “but it’s not out of control, and Army and Frontier Corps (officers) are taking to the streets. The government declared three days of national mourning. All the lights are turned off and cell phones are blocked.

“People I have seen are weeping and beating their heads, laying on the ground and hitting their fists. Women are really angry, whether or not they supported her, but because how could a terrorist kill a mother and a woman?”

CAI builds schools in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan and Mortenson travels to the region several times a year. He was just in Azad Kashmir in northern Pakistan a few days ago, and intended to travel to Afghanistan today, although that journey may no longer be possible due to flights being canceled.

In the hours following Bhutto’s assassination, Mortenson said he monitored foreign media via the Internet and observed that many American media reports were “not reflective of what is happening in Pakistan.”

He said some news sources were accusing Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf of not providing adequate security for Bhutto, but the people he was speaking with in Islamabad were “thinking that America’s war on terror has pushed al-Qaida to get more active here.”

That perspective appeared to be buttressed by a report from the Italian news agency adnkronos that al-Qaida was claiming responsibility for the assassination, he said.

According to adnkronos’ Web site, an al-Qaida commander called from Afghanistan and claimed the terrorist organization had “terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat {the} mujahadeen.”

That would make sense, because of Bhutto’s stance against Islamic militants, Mortenson said, and because of the fact that Bhutto was Shia, “and the Shia are not part of the caliph in al-Qaida’s ideal world. They are considered kafirs.”

But no matter who was responsible, “It’s really very tragic,” Mortenson said. “It is a loss for Pakistan, peace and democracy in this volatile region at a critical time.

“I think this is a kind of seminal event that could determine whether the moderates start taking a stance against the militant jihadis or throw in the towel and let the militants take a strong role in determining Pakistan’s future. She was seen by many as a last great hope for restoring a legitimate democracy in Pakistan.”

He also said he hoped the United States government and people did not use the assassination as a reason to isolate Pakistan’s moderate majority, who oppose terrorism and support peace.

“But I fear that the U.S. will begin to withdraw critical support and isolate the country even more – just as we did in Iraq,” he said.

Karin Ronnow is at kronnow@dailychronicle.com

© Bozeman Daily Chronicle 2007

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