Half of Pakistanis suspect officials' hand in Benazir's death: poll

ISLAMABAD: Almost half of all the Pakistanis believed that the government-allied agencies or politicians were responsible for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, according to a survey released on Saturday.
Meanwhile, more than half backed Bilawal as the right person to succeed Benazir as the new party chief, the poll by Gallup Pakistan said.
The survey said 23 per cent of the people suspected the government intelligence or security agencies of being responsible for Benazir's killing, and a further 25 per cent believed the government-allied politicians were to blame.
Only 17 per cent of the Pakistanis believed the official account of the government that Al-Qaeda militants were to blame.
Benazir herself accused several senior government and intelligence officials of plotting to kill her following a double suicide attack on a parade to welcome her home from exile in October last year.
Twelve per cent suspected the United States, and four per cent blamed India.
On Benazir's succession, 53 per cent of those questioned said the PPP had made the right decision to choose Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as its new chairman.
A further 28 per cent said it was wrong and 19 per cent said they did not know.
Gallup Pakistan said it interviewed 1,300 men and women in towns and cities across Pakistan and the poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points