Table Of ContentTHE 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
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byG eneraZll a-ul-aHnadqt hee xecutioofnP rime
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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.
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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
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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
