Paramilitary troops stand guard on a street in Pakistan. Photo / Reuters
Accusations are swirling about the cause of Benazir Bhutto's death, and Pakistan is slipping closer to de facto martial law - even as the Government says it has proof she was murdered by al Qaeda.
As the former prime minister was buried amid scenes of mass mourning, President
Pervez Musharraf, keen to deflect criticism of his Government for allegedly failing to ensure Bhutto's safety, pledged to "root out" the militants responsible for her death.
It emerged last night that American journalist Wolf Blitzer had received an email from Bhutto in October which was only to be read if she was killed, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Bhutto wrote that she had "been made to feel insecure by his [Musharraf's] minions", that specific improvements had not been made to her security arrangements and that the Pakistani leader was responsible for her safety.
However, a Pakistan Interior Ministry spokesman claimed that, despite reports of being shot by a suicide bomber who then detonated himself near her vehicle on Friday, Bhutto was killed when she hit her head on the roof.
Brigadier Javed Cheema said the opposition leader was thrown against the lever of her car's sun-roof by the force of the blast, fracturing her skull.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party described the Government's account as a "pack of lies" and said that she was shot in the head and stomach. It also emerged that no post-mortem examination was carried out at the request of Bhutto's husband, making a cause of death impossible to establish.
Violence sparked by her murder spread around the country, causing the deaths of at least 33 people. Many of the country's big cities virtually shut down. Security forces were given orders to shoot rioters on sight.
As the country slid towards de facto martial law, the man seen by many as Pakistan's new opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, announced a boycott of elections scheduled for January 8.
