Aide: Bhutto Died as She Readied Dossier on Rigged Vote

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed the same day she planned to give US lawmakers damaging information on government actions to rig upcoming elections, a top aide charged yesterday. The "thoroughly rigged" elections were to "benefit" President Pervez Musharraf's party, said the aide. The charge was made as government officials and opposition leaders remained sharply divided on the timing of the upcoming elections.

Pakistani officials are expected to decide tomorrow to delay the elections, while opposition groups support the original January 8 date. Bhutto's husband, meanwhile, scoffed at the government's insistence that al-Qaeda was responsible for his wife's death. Asif Zardari, who is now leading Bhutto's party along with the couple's son, accused the government of a cover-up and compared the murky situation to the Kennedy assassination. (More al-Qaeda stories.)