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August 17, 1988, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
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A C -130 Hercules equipped as a VIP
transport takes off from a military
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A few minutes later, the aircraft is
seen four points up and down.
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Its engines seem to be running okay.
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Suddenly, it plunges into the desert.
There are no survivors.
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The leader of a country at the hub of
crucial superpower confrontations is
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He has been assassinated in the most
mysterious circumstances.
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August 17, 1988, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
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The fireball after the crash wipes out
all 31 people on board the C -130 VIP
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transport. Among them are some of the
most important and powerful in Pakistan.
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The nation's president, General Zia -ul
-Haq.
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The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, the chief of the Army General
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and eight other top generals.
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plus the U .S. ambassador to Pakistan
and the head of the U .S. military
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mission.
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Because there are both Pakistani and U
.S. fatalities, both Pakistani and U .S.
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air crash investigators are called in.
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Just before their report is published,
rumors appear in the U .S. press that
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crash had been caused by a mechanical
failure.
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But when the report does appear, It's
clear that both the US and Pakistani
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investigators rejected this idea and
believe that some sort of sabotage is
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responsible.
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Despite this, the story of a mechanical
malfunction continues to be the one
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emphasized by both governments.
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No further investigations are conducted,
and the whole matter is allowed to
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drop. Why?
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There had been several earlier attempts
to kill Pakistan's president, and many
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powerful and ruthless people would be
glad to see him dead and happy to help
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on his way.
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Was this an assassination with too many
suspects?
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A case where it would have been too
embarrassing to pin the blame on any one
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party in the complex geopolitical game
which was swirling around Pakistan.
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the target of what was almost certainly
an assassination, was born in 1924 at
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Jalandhar, in the northwest of what was
then British India.
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He was commissioned into a cavalry
regiment of the Indian Army in 1943 and
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fought in Burma during the successful
campaign to defeat the Japanese.
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When British India is partitioned into
Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan in 1947,
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Zia joins the Pakistan Army as a major.
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He's recognized as an able but not
brilliant officer, but nevertheless
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steadily.
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By 1967 -70, he is in charge of a
Pakistani training mission to Jordan,
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which time he sees action against the
Black September terrorists.
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April 1st, 1976, Islamabad.
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Zia's big break comes when Prime
Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto appoints
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of the Army Staff over the heads of
several more senior generals.
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Bhutto chooses Zia as a non -political
figure who will be no threat in an
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increasingly turbulent political arena.
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But he realizes how wrong he was just
over a year later.
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July the 5th, 1977, Islamabad.
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Zia leads a coup against Bhutto's
government and declares martial law.
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For the second time in less than 30
years of independence, the democratic
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government has been overthrown by the
military in Pakistan.
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Zia has reached the top of a very
slippery pole.
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Already he has enemies, and soon he will
have many more.
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The country which Zia now rules had been
founded as a Muslim state in 1947, when
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Muhammad Ali Jinnah refused to accept a
unified India.
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It has eastern and western provinces,
separated by more than a thousand miles
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northern India.
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From the moment that the partition of
British India is decided, religious and
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ethnic tensions erupt.
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Huge population shifts begin as Muslims
and Hindus living on the wrong sides of
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the new frontiers try to reach their new
motherland.
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Intimidation and massacres kill
millions.
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Partition has been so rushed that many
border disputes remain.
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The worst is over who should control
Kashmir.
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Its population is mainly Muslim, but it
has a Hindu ruler.
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At the last moment, it is given to
India.
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Within a few months of independence, the
two new nations are at war.
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It ends with Pakistan controlling about
one -third of Kashmir and giving help to
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separatists in the Indian -controlled
areas.
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A running sore has developed, which will
poison relations between them for more
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than half a century.
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From the outset, democracy is never
secure in Pakistan, unlike India, which
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prides itself on being the world's
largest.
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By 1956, political chaos has become so
great that the head of the army, General
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Ayub Khan, leads a coup and declares
himself president.
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In 1965, India and Pakistan go to war
again over Kashmir.
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It ends in stalemate, with the partition
line virtually unchanged.
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The western province of Pakistan tries
to secede and declare independence of
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state of Bangladesh.
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Pakistan's military government sends in
the army, which tries to suppress the
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independence movement with great
brutality.
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Inevitably, India sees an opportunity to
weaken its old enemy and intervenes
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militarily to achieve independence for
Bangladesh.
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Popular unrest in the remainder of
Pakistan after this defeat forces the
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cede power a year later to a
democratically elected government led by
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Ali Bhutto.
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In 1972, spurred on by rumours that
India has begun a nuclear research
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programme, Bhutto authorises Pakistan
scientists to begin their own.
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But while this new source of tension
between the two countries is building
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Economic mismanagement and political
infighting are reducing Pakistan to
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Mindful that Pakistan's armed forces
have already staged one coup, Bhutto
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attempts to guard against a repeat
performance by selecting a relatively
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and apparently non -political general as
his chief of staff.
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Zia -ul -Haq is promoted over the heads
of several more senior officers.
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This decision turns out to be fatal for
Bhutto.
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July the 5th, 1977, Islamabad.
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Zia mounts his coup, ominously codenamed
Fair Play, and makes himself president
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of Pakistan.
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Within a year, Bhutto is arrested on
trumped -up charges of murdering a
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political opponent, and sentenced to
death.
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Despite widespread international protest
and pleas for mercy, Zia confirmed the
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sentence.
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April the 4th, 1979, Islamabad.
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At dawn, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is hanged.
Members of his family vow to avenge him.
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Zia has made himself some dangerous
enemy.
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And with him, he goes on to make others.
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At home, Zia introduces strict Islamic
laws.
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Large numbers of moderate Muslims and
politicians are opposed to this
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fundamentally.
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He also secretly speeds up Pakistan's
nuclear research program under Dr. Abdul
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Qadir Khan and adds to the tension with
India by continuing to support the
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Kashmiri separatists operating in the
Indian control zone.
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and then by sending help to Sikh
separatists, stirring up trouble in
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northwestern India.
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Matters become immeasurably worse in
October 1984, when these Sikh
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are responsible for the murder of Indira
Gandhi, India's prime minister.
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Her country and its new leader, her son
Rajiv, are outraged.
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Another potential enemy is added to the
list of those who might prefer to see
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Zia disposed of.
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December 25, 1979, Afghanistan.
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The Soviet Union invades Pakistan's
nation.
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Zia's position on the world stage is
transformed.
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Zia immediately announces that he will
help the Afghan opposition, the regional
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warlords who begin attacking Soviet
communications within days, and make
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parts of the country a no -go area for
the Red Army.
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The Soviet leadership is added to the
list of those who might want Zia dead.
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His decision transforms Pakistan's
relationship with the United States,
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had hitherto been cool about Pakistan's
nuclear ambitions.
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Now, Pakistan's position on a new front
line of the Cold War makes the Americans
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swiftly become much more friendly.
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The country soon becomes a conduit for U
.S. arms going to the various
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Mujahideen rebel groups fighting the
Soviet army.
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00:11:21,470 --> 00:11:26,430
But by the mid -1980s, the Soviets are
getting on top, with their aggressive
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of Hind helicopter gunships and Spetsnaz
special forces.
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The situation is transformed when the U
.S. starts supplying finger -handheld
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anti -aircraft missiles.
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which soon drive the Soviet helicopters
from the sky and remove one of the Red
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Army's major advantages.
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The cost of military involvement in
Afghanistan is a major factor in
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accelerating the collapse of the Soviet
Union.
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May 1988, Moscow.
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00:11:58,500 --> 00:12:03,400
The new Soviet government of Mikhail
Gorbachev announces that a pullout from
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Afghanistan will begin.
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00:12:07,530 --> 00:12:12,530
But Zia does not let up his support of
certain Mujahideen leaders to ensure
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an Afghan government friendly to
Pakistan will emerge.
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At the same time, increasing tensions
between factions within Zia's ruling
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have led him to promise democratic
elections within 90 days.
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Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of the
executed Prime Minister, returns to
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and announces that she will be taking
power.
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It is at this delicate political time
that Zia is asked to go to watch a
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demonstration of the new U .S. main
battle tank, the M1 Abrams, at the
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ground near Bahawalpur.
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Zia is busy, but reluctantly agrees to
go because the whole of his Army High
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Command will be there, and he does not
wish to be seen as flighting them.
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August 17, 1988, Bahawalpur.
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The demonstration of the Abrams tank is
a fiasco.
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In a firing test, it misses its target
ten times out of ten and then breaks
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down.
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Bahawalpur Air Base, early afternoon.
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Zia returns by helicopter and then
boards his personal transport, a
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adapted Lockheed Hercules C -130,
codenamed Pack 1.
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Feated beside him is the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and former head
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of the Inter -Service Intelligence
Agency, Pakistan's equivalent of the US
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Also on board are the Chief of the
Pakistani Army General Staff and eight
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top generals.
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Plus the US Ambassador to Pakistan,
Arnold L. Raphael.
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And General Herbert M. Wasson.
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the head of the U .S. military aid
mission to the country.
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The Hercules has an experienced four
-man flight crew. The pilot, Wing
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Mahdoud Hassan, was personally selected
by Zia. The rest of the crew also have
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top security clearance.
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Baha 'u'llah air bits.
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At 3 .46 in the afternoon, the Hercules
takes off.
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A few moments later, the control tower
asks for its position.
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It is standard procedure.
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The pilot responds, Pack 1, stand by.
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Then there is silence.
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The control tower starts calling
desperately.
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About two minutes later, villagers
working in nearby fields see the
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lurching up and down in the sky as if on
an invisible roller coaster.
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After its third lurch, it heads deeply
downwards and crashes straight into the
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desert with its engine still running
normal.
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It is buried deep in the earth.
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Then it explodes in a ball of flesh.
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The only survivor of the Pakistan army's
top brass, is the deputy chief of
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staff. He had taken off immediately
after the Hercules in an executive jet
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follow it back to Islamabad.
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Seeing what has happened, and sure that
there can be no survivors in the flaming
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wreckage, General Begg flies straight
back to the capital.
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There, he imposes martial law, but
announces that the planned election will
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still go ahead.
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Because there are both U .S. and
Pakistani fatalities, a joint team of
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-U .S. air crash investigators is called
in.
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Normally, America's FBI would expect to
be involved, but this time it is
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forbidden to take part.
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There is only a cursory examination of
the badly burned bodies of the pilots
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found in the wreckage before they are
cremated.
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October 14, 1988, Washington.
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The U .S. State Department leaks a story
to the New York Times headlined,
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Malfunctions Seen as Cause of Zia Crash.
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But when the report comes out three days
later, the Times' story is now
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headlined, Pakistan Points to Sabotage
in Zia Crash.
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00:16:46,450 --> 00:16:49,410
Immediately after this, the U .S.
government issues a briefing.
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which suggests that there has been a
difference of opinion between the U .S.
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investigators, who believe that a
mechanical failure has been the cause of
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crash, and the Pakistanis, who are
certain that it is sabotage.
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00:17:05,410 --> 00:17:09,550
In reality, when the lead U .S.
investigator later gives evidence to a
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congressional subcommittee, he states
that no evidence of a mechanical failure
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had been found.
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Despite US misinformation and the
hushing up of the inquiry, both the
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and US investigators end by being sure
it is neither a mechanical malfunction
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nor a major explosion on board, nor a
missile hit.
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00:17:33,290 --> 00:17:39,690
This only leaves sabotage. But if so,
who did it? And why was it never
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00:17:39,690 --> 00:17:40,690
investigated?
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August 17th, 1988, Bahawalpur.
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Pak 1 is still in one piece, with the
engine still running when it hits the
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00:17:55,140 --> 00:18:00,020
ground. It has two separate backup
control systems, and there is no sign
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00:18:00,020 --> 00:18:01,400
either has malfunctioned.
220
00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:08,760
But the paw -poising up and down in the
final steep dive seen by witnesses are
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typical of a C -130 left to fly itself
without autopilot.
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00:18:14,700 --> 00:18:19,000
Both sets of investigators finally come
to the conclusion that the crew has
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00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,800
somehow been incapacitated and the plane
left to fly itself.
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00:18:23,660 --> 00:18:27,720
But there is no black box flight
recorder of their final conversations or
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00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:28,720
actions.
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00:18:31,020 --> 00:18:35,820
Nevertheless, there is the long silence
after the pilot says, pack one, stand
227
00:18:35,820 --> 00:18:39,180
by, before the aircraft crashes and
explodes.
228
00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,840
There is no attempt to send a mayday
message.
229
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,180
The aircraft's radio is apparently
working.
230
00:18:46,580 --> 00:18:51,300
When ground recordings are examined, a
very faint voice, probably that of Zia's
231
00:18:51,300 --> 00:18:56,040
military secretary, Brigadier Najib
Ahmed, can be heard calling the pilot's
232
00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,360
name, Mashdoud, Mashdoud.
233
00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,620
It sounds as if he has opened the
cockpit door to find out why the
234
00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:04,620
flying erratically.
235
00:19:06,100 --> 00:19:10,740
It begins to look as if the crew have
somehow been incapacitated very suddenly
236
00:19:10,740 --> 00:19:12,000
shortly after take -off.
237
00:19:12,570 --> 00:19:14,010
But how could this have been done?
238
00:19:16,310 --> 00:19:20,430
When the wreckage is examined by the U
.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and
239
00:19:20,430 --> 00:19:26,250
Tobacco in Washington, minute traces of
PNET, a secondary explosive sometimes
240
00:19:26,250 --> 00:19:28,350
used for detonators, are found.
241
00:19:31,070 --> 00:19:35,770
The investigators begin to speculate
that a low -level detonator may have
242
00:19:35,770 --> 00:19:40,730
used to burst a flask of incapacitating
gas about the size of a drink can.
243
00:19:42,730 --> 00:19:48,170
A repair crew has worked on the C -130
at Bahawalpur Air Base, and it would
244
00:19:48,170 --> 00:19:50,170
been simple to put such a device on
board.
245
00:19:53,250 --> 00:19:54,810
Suitable nerve gases exist.
246
00:19:55,150 --> 00:20:00,330
The US has developed one, named VX, at
the Army's Chemical Warfare Center at
247
00:20:00,330 --> 00:20:01,330
Aberdeen, Maryland.
248
00:20:02,050 --> 00:20:06,030
And Soviet forces are known to have used
one against Mujahideen guerrillas
249
00:20:06,030 --> 00:20:07,990
during clearance operations in
Afghanistan.
250
00:20:10,060 --> 00:20:13,960
But none of these questions are allowed
to disrupt the official story of a
251
00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:14,960
mechanical failure.
252
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,520
The whole matter is soon hushed up with
no further investigation.
253
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:25,920
Soon people are speculating that Zia's
death has come at such a delicate time
254
00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,660
the great game being played out in
Afghanistan that to accuse any one
255
00:20:30,660 --> 00:20:35,740
suspect or country of carrying out an
assassination would have been
256
00:20:35,740 --> 00:20:39,060
destabilizing. It was better to let
matters lie.
257
00:20:39,590 --> 00:20:41,210
rather than stir up controversy.
258
00:20:43,150 --> 00:20:47,510
The Soviets might well have wanted Zia
dead in revenge for Pakistan's arming of
259
00:20:47,510 --> 00:20:48,510
the Mujahideen.
260
00:20:48,550 --> 00:20:52,950
The Soviets had just halted the
withdrawal of their forces as a protest
261
00:20:52,950 --> 00:20:55,250
continuing attacks prompted by Pakistan.
262
00:20:55,770 --> 00:21:00,650
The pull -out soon resumed, but any
accusation of Soviet responsibility for
263
00:21:00,650 --> 00:21:04,090
Zia's murder might well have delayed it
or scuppered it completely.
264
00:21:07,850 --> 00:21:10,770
The Soviets certainly had the means to
carry out such an operation.
265
00:21:11,090 --> 00:21:15,570
They trained the Afghan Secret Service,
which had already killed or wounded over
266
00:21:15,570 --> 00:21:17,370
1 ,400 people in Pakistan.
267
00:21:22,030 --> 00:21:26,630
The Soviets also had stockpiles of the
necessary nerve gas and had shown that
268
00:21:26,630 --> 00:21:28,930
they would have no inhibitions about
using it.
269
00:21:33,290 --> 00:21:36,970
But the United States was convinced that
the Soviets would not have risked the
270
00:21:36,970 --> 00:21:39,030
detente by killing the U .S. ambassador.
271
00:21:42,330 --> 00:21:47,230
The Indian government, led by Rajiv
Gandhi, held Zia responsible for arming
272
00:21:47,230 --> 00:21:51,570
separatists. Some of them had recently
killed Rajiv's mother, Indira.
273
00:21:52,270 --> 00:21:56,390
There was also the ongoing tension in
Kashmir, where Zia was arming the
274
00:21:56,390 --> 00:21:57,390
militants.
275
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:03,160
But to accuse India of his assassination
would destabilize an already tense
276
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,720
situation and hardly help to maintain
peace in the region.
277
00:22:09,580 --> 00:22:15,760
An even more virulent enemy of Zia is
Mir Murtaza Bhutto, the son of the
278
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:20,560
executed Zulfikar and brother of the
leading opposition politician, Benazir
279
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,580
Bhutto. He had the guerrilla group
dedicated to overthrowing Zia.
280
00:22:25,150 --> 00:22:28,350
This has already tried to shoot down Pak
-1 on one occasion.
281
00:22:29,730 --> 00:22:34,050
But to accuse Bhutto's family of Zia's
murder would jeopardize Pakistan's
282
00:22:34,050 --> 00:22:37,490
projected elections and the return to a
very fragile democracy.
283
00:22:40,090 --> 00:22:43,670
It was known that Zia had been planning
to make changes amongst the army high
284
00:22:43,670 --> 00:22:47,990
command. Both he and the army chief of
staff had been reluctant to go to the
285
00:22:47,990 --> 00:22:48,990
tank trial.
286
00:22:49,250 --> 00:22:51,730
They had only been persuaded by army
colleagues.
287
00:22:52,490 --> 00:22:57,050
Could some disgruntled generals have
decided to save their careers by getting
288
00:22:57,050 --> 00:22:58,050
rid of him?
289
00:22:59,190 --> 00:23:03,010
It was noted that the deputy chief of
staff had travelled on a separate plane,
290
00:23:03,110 --> 00:23:07,750
but after his assassination, he made no
attempt to seize power and allowed the
291
00:23:07,750 --> 00:23:09,270
democratic election to go ahead.
292
00:23:09,730 --> 00:23:15,090
This brought Benazir Bhutto to power and
ended army control, at least
293
00:23:15,090 --> 00:23:16,090
temporarily.
294
00:23:16,710 --> 00:23:21,500
Apart from these immediate suspects,
Fingers were pointed at several other
295
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:24,580
directly involved parties who might have
wanted Zia dead.
296
00:23:26,940 --> 00:23:31,540
Ayatollah Khomeini's Shiite Muslim Iran,
after eight years of a seemingly
297
00:23:31,540 --> 00:23:35,860
endless war with Saddam Hussein's Sunni
-dominated Iraq, was becoming
298
00:23:35,860 --> 00:23:40,900
increasingly suspicious of the growing
power of Sunni Pakistan under Zia on its
299
00:23:40,900 --> 00:23:41,900
other borders.
300
00:23:43,940 --> 00:23:48,820
With the Soviets pulling out, The Afghan
warlords were jockeying for power and
301
00:23:48,820 --> 00:23:54,320
influence. One in particular, Boubadine
Hekmatyar, had fallen out seriously with
302
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:55,320
Zia.
303
00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,180
Inevitably, there was a suggestion that
now that the Soviets were withdrawing,
304
00:24:01,180 --> 00:24:03,940
the US might want Zia out of power.
305
00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:08,260
There was a danger that he was now
arming the Taliban extremists among the
306
00:24:08,260 --> 00:24:10,680
rebels who were known to be profoundly
anti -American.
307
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,640
Some years later, The then U .S.
ambassador to India, John Gunter Dean,
308
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:21,240
suggested that Israel's secret service,
Mossad, might have been involved.
309
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:27,640
As its attack on the Iraqi nuclear
facility at Osirak had shown, Israel had
310
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,600
always been paranoid about the
possibility that one of its Arab enemies
311
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,120
acquire an atomic weapon.
312
00:24:33,420 --> 00:24:38,480
It was known to be concerned that Zia
was developing a Muslim bomb and that
313
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,280
might be supplied to an Arab opponent.
314
00:24:40,940 --> 00:24:44,920
When he expressed his concerns to the
State Department, Dean was dismissed.
315
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,880
Like an old -fashioned whodunit, almost
everyone involved in the region had
316
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:56,020
reasons to want Zia dead, and several
had the means to do it and make it look
317
00:24:56,020 --> 00:24:57,020
like an accident.
318
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,080
But no further investigations into the
assassination of Zia have ever been
319
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:03,019
carried out.
320
00:25:03,020 --> 00:25:07,640
No detective has ever gathered all the
suspects together in the drawing room
321
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:09,420
then unmasked the real villain.
322
00:25:10,409 --> 00:25:15,190
probably because the truth would have
been too embarrassing, and almost any
323
00:25:15,190 --> 00:25:18,510
solution would have caused even more
problems in a volatile region.
324
00:25:18,910 --> 00:25:23,970
Sadly, the death of Zia -ul -Haq and the
restraint over investigating whoever
325
00:25:23,970 --> 00:25:28,970
carried it out still has not paid off in
a lasting peace in the region.
31402
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