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THE TERRORIST PRINCE The Life and Death of Murtaza Bhutto RajaA nwarw as advisetro PakistanP'rsi me MinistZeurl flkAalrlB huttoo n studenatn dl abour RAJAA NWAR affairfsr om1 974 untltlh e1 9n coup.H e was Foreword by Tariq Ali ImprisonIenKd a buflo rf ouyre arfsr om1 980, and Translated by KhalHiads an now fiveIsn e xilIenG ermanyH.e Ist hea uthoorf The Tragedy of Afghanistan (Verso). The Terrorist Prince Isa grippiInngs idearc'cso unt oft heP akistarneis istaonrcgea nizaAtli-oZnu lflkar (IUnr du',T hSew ord's)e,tu pI n1 979 attert hec oup byG eneraZll a-ul-aHnadqt hee xecutioofnP rime MinistZeurl flAklalBr h uttRoa.j Aa nwart,h ea uthor, wasa na dvisteorP rimMei nistBehru ttoa ndo neo f theo rg11ntzers oft hec ampaigtnos aveh isI llaett er hisc onvictioon na trumped-umpu rderc harge. Named asa traitboyZr i aa,n dl iabtloee xecutiIofn arresteAndw,a rs oughats ylumI nG ermanyB.u t whenB hutto'sso nsM urtazaa ndS hahnawaazs ked himt oj oitnh emh,e a greeadn dp articipaItnet dh e foundionfgA l-Zulflkar. RajaA nwarr ecounttsh et ransformaotfi Aoln� ZulflkIanrt oa terrorglr1otu pr,u nb y Murtaza Bhuttaos h iso wn exclusifviee fdoImn.1 9 81, the organizathiiojna ckae dP akistaanlid lneenr r oute toK abulTW.l ceI tc amec losteo a ssassinaZtiian.g Forh iso pposititooM nu rtaza'lse adersAhniwpa r was imprisonIendK abulf orf oury earsM.u rtaza himsewlafs k illbeydt hep olicIenK arachIin1 996. Raja Anwar draws unmistakabcloyn vincing portraiotfst heo bsessivreultyh leMsusrt azah,i s lieutencahnite,ef x ecutioannedre ventuvallc tim1 SalamullTalhp ua,n d they oungw orkerwsh o sacrifitcheedil ri vefso ra corruptceadu seR.i chI n detalalv,a ilabolnel yt o a participIann tth e turbulte e ventIst p ortraysT,he Terrorist Prince brllllafnutsletys h et ensioann dp aceo fa political thrilwlietrth h ev eraciotffy i rst-rreaptoert agIetI. s a compellinnga rratoifvr eu pturwehsi chc ontinue tod ividae d eepltyr oublPeadk istan. Vanguard (Pvt) Ltd. Books Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad The Terrorist Prince The Terrorist Prince The Life and Death of Murtaza Bhutto • Raja Anwar Translated by Khalid Hasan , , Vanguard Books Copyrig19h9t8 VanguaBrodo kPsv tL td No parotf t hipsu blicamtaiyob ner eproducsetdo,ri endr etriseyvsatle m, transloartt erda nsmititnae ndyfo, rm , bya nym eanse,l ectr,op nhioct ocopying, recordoirno gt,h erwiwsiet,h otuhtep riopre rmissoifot nh ep ublisehxecre,p t int hec asoef b riqeufo tatiioncn rsi tiacratli colrre esv iews. Ther igohftR ajAan wart ob ei dentiafsit ehdea uthoofrt hiwso rk hasb eeans serbtyeh di mi na ccordawnicteth h eC opyrigDhets,i gns andP atenAtcst1 988. HeadO ffi:c e VanguaBrodo kPsv tL td. 45 TheM allL,a horPea,k istan Ph:4 2-7243779; Fax: 42-7245097 e-ma:i [email protected] BrancOhff ic:e VanguaBrodo kPsv tL td. MashriCqe ntrSei,Sr h ahS ulemaRno ad, GulshaIIn q baKla,r achi. Ph:2 1-4944175; Fax: 21-4944593 e-ma:is le [email protected] BrancOhff ic:e VanguaBrodo kPsv tL td. JinnaShu peMra rket, MarkaFz6 , Islamabad. Ph:5 1-275215; Fax: 51-270317 e-ma:is le [email protected] PrintaetAd r ttraPcrki nte2r5s-,CL oweMra llL,a hore. Contents Foreword by Tariq Ali vu Preface xi The Fall of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 2 Al-Nusrat: The Campaign to Save Bhutto 25 3 The Human Torches 31 4 Kabul Hosts People's Liberation Army 41 5 Murtaza's Ragtag Army 57 6 The Indian Link 70 7 Pul-i-Charkhi 81 8 Drawing the Sword 87 9 The Hijack to Kabul 95 10 Flight to Damascus 112 11 Al-Zulfikar's Hit-List 121 12 Zia Escapes Al-Zulfikar Attack 130 13 A Killer for Murtaza 150 14 Forgotten Victims 178 15 Sindhi Ambitions and Laundered Reputations 193 16 One More Assassination 200 Appendices 213 Notes 227 Foreword This book furnishes a riveting account of the activities of Al-Zulfikar, the armed group formed by Murtazar Bhutto to avenge the judicial killing of his father, Zulfikar Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Pakistan first deposed and then killed by General Zia al-Huq in 1977. Al-Zulfikar was set up in 1981 and not finally wound up until the gunning down of Murtaza Bhutto in December 1996, though its period of greatest activity was the early and middle 1980s. \\-'hen reading Raja Anwar's o�en chilling account of the exploits of this terrorist group the Western reader should bear in mind that the West itself during these years not only backed atrociously repressive governments like that of General Zia, but also supplied terroristic groups, such as those unleashed on Afghanistan, whose activities were to be vastly more destructive than those of Al-Zulfikar. The eleven-year dictatorship of Zia (1977-89) was one of the most squalid episodes in Pakistan's unhappy history. It brutalized the country and its ruling elite beyond redemption and permitted the birth of a ubiquitous heroin mafia which still dominates the political and business life of the country. The toppling of an elected government and the hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto inaugurated this degradation. At the same time martyrdom provided the Bhutto family with a halo which has only recently lost its shine. The Bhuttos were landlords from Sind, a province where the peasants were treated as serfs and where the droit de seigneur was not simply a phrase from the history books. The Sindhi landlords were, and remain, amongst the most rapacious and cruel in Asia, inhabiting a world of their own and exercising total dominion over the lives of all those who lived on their lands. The landlord's word is the law. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was born and brought up in this landlord milieu, though he spent a great deal of time in the pre-Partition years in Bombay. He subsequently studied at Oxford and Harvard and became a barrister. While still in his early thirties, he was recognized as a clever young man by General Ayub Khan, the first of Pakistan's many uniformed despots who, vii Foreword in 1958, made Bhutto a Minister in his Cabinet. He never looked back. In 1965, Bhutto, then Foreign Minister of Pakistan, was sacked by Ayub (who had by now promoted himself to Field Marshal). Bhutto formed his own party, the Pakistan People's Party, and when students rose in opposition to the dictatorship, it was Bhutto who became their leader in West Pakistan. He was imprisoned for a short time. The adulation of the crowd had changed him. He enjoyed his rapport with the crowds, he openly baited the rich in town and country. He promised food, clothes and shelter for all. He threatened to occupy the mansions of the rich and change them into hospitals and clinics for the poor. Rhetoric of this sort had never been heard in Pakistan before and when the student-worker insurrection finally toppled Ayrub, it was Bhutto's party that swept the board in West Pakistan, defeating all the big landlords in the crucial Punjabi province. He had promised everyone a slice of the cake and the people had begun their patient wait. It was at this time that Raja Anwar, one of the more dynamic student leaders from Rawapindi, met Bhutto and was entranced by his skills in the art of mass manipulation. Anwar, like millions of others, believed that this patrician character, though he had not changed his outlook completely, could nonetheless bring about a radical social transformation. There was an excitement that had gripped the whole country in 1968-69 which was never to return again. Those days of hope were drowned in the blood of the Bengalis of East Pakistan. Following the break-up of Pakistan in 1971 Bhutto came to power in the Western half, partly because he enjoyed support from the Army but also because of the strength of the popular support he commanded. After six years in office he was overthrown by his favourite General, Zia al-Haq. This clash between the patrician Bhutto and the Uriah Heepish Zia is vividly drawn by Anwar. Bhutto had promoted Zia over the heads of six senior generals and against the advice of his closest colleagues. He thought Zia was a simpleton who could be easily manipu lated. Bhutto's arrogance was bad enough but it was his failure to understand that in the new Pakistan it was the army that had become the central political institution. This army, after its defeat in Bangladesh, could have been reduced in size, its character and function totally altered and its budget cut by half and used to fund 'food, clothes and shelter' for all, but Bhutto was simply not prepared for this, even though he was the only political leader with the popular support necessary to the task. Instead he believed that he could play one general off against another and in this way keep himself in power indefinitely. Raja Anwar decided to throw in his lot with Bhutto and agreed to become an official adviser to his government. When General Uriah Heep finally ejected Bhutto and executed him, Anwar was desolated. In his Fore-word despair he decided to join Murtaza Bhutto, the son-in-exile. This book is a gripping and fascinating account for anyone who wishes to understand the dynamics of a terrorist organisation. The great majority of the young men who lost their lives in the service of al-Zulfikar were dedicated, courageous and idealistic. Unfortunately their leader was a prey to grandiose delusions and utterly careless of the lives of his followers. Since the West backed Zia, Murtaza turned to the authorities in Kabul and Moscow, Damascus and New Delhi, for covert sponsorship. There are times when one feels that the spirit of Nicolo Macchiavelli is haunting the proceedings. Farce and tragedy are willing or unwilling bedfellows in The Terron'st Prince. As Raja Anwar's story shifts from the jagged front line of the Cold War in the Hindu Kush to the guerrilla training camps of Syria and Libyai he introduces us to an extraordinary cast of characters - conniving statesmen, sinister intelligence chiefs, idealistic thugs, aristocratic bagmen and duped peasant boys. Taken as a whole, the story of the Bhutto family and its followers is a Greek tragedy. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto declares for the people, is hoisted to power by a popular rebellion, misuses that power and is overthrown by a man he had thought of as his creature. He is hanged. fijs youngest son Shahnawaz Bhutto is poisoned in mysterious circumstances on the French Riviera. The older son, Murtaza, sets up a terrorist group which often scales the pinnacles of absurdity, but also hijacks planes, obtains the release of political prisoners and, as Anwar vividly relates, comes close on at least two occasions to assassinating the Pakistani military dictator. The oldest child, Benazir, stays at home, is arrested many times, allowed out into exile, returns home, takes on the generals and is locked up again. Then Zia's plane is blown up by unknown assailants. Following his death the generals permit the calling of elections. Benazir wins the elections and becomes Prime Minister. She is dismissed, out of power for a few years and then wins again. Murtaza returns home and quarrels publicly with his sister and her husband, Asif Zardari, who is accused of riotous corruption. A sulphurous family feud ensues, ending with Murtaza being shot dead outside his home in Clifton, Karachi, by armed policemen. His sister is the Prime Minister. She is distraught. Soon she is dismissed from power by one of her creatures, President F arooq Leghari, and her husband Asif Zardari is imprisoned. As I complete this preface her husband has been charged with involvement in the killing of Murtaza Bhutto. The story is not yet over. Tariq Ali 18 July 1997 London