- JERUSALEM -- Israeli media
reports on Friday revealed that slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir
Bhutto intended to establish official relations with the Jewish state if
elected and was seeking Mossad protection in the interim.
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- Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert grieved over Bhutto's assassination following an election rally
on Thursday, and said that upon her return to Pakistan in October after
years of exile Bhutto conveyed to him via a mutual acquaintance that she
wanted close ties between Israel and Pakistan.
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- The Hebrew daily newspaper Ma'ariv further revealed that
Bhutto had asked Israel's Mossad spy agency, along with the CIA and Britain's
Scotland Yard, to help protect her in the run-up to Pakistan's January
8 election. Bhutto complained that current Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf
was trying to make her an easy target for assassination by not allowing
her to use adequate protective measures.
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- According to the report, Israel's Foreign Ministry was
in favor of aiding Bhutto, though the government ultimately decided against
it for fear of angering the Musharraf regime and upsetting relations with
neighboring India, a close ally of Israel engaged in an ongoing bitter
confrontation with Pakistan.
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- Israeli leaders lamented that Bhutto, a popular former
prime minister who was twice deposed by authoritarian elements, could have
served as a bridge between Israel and the Muslim world.
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- http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=14909
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