Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News News Benazir Bhutto killed in bomb blast

Also, the only way that this hurts Musharraf is if the assassination is somehow tied to an official act of his government or the military, and I believe these are extremely unlikely eventualities.

The agreement effectively ended the Waziristan War, fought between the Pakistani military and rebels in the border region with ties to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda . . .

Initial reports characterized the accord as an agreement with the Taliban. However, the Government of Pakistan has strenuously denied that the Taliban were party to the accord, nor that the accord is a deal with the Taliban. News sources continue to report that the Taliban fighters exert significant and perhaps dominant control over the area, and were the main force behind the peace agreement (see Islamic State of Waziristan).

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday ruled out U.S. forces conducting any raids on Pakistani territory to try to kill or capture al-Qaeda leaders.

"The prerogative must remain with Pakistan'' on carrying out anti-terrorism operations in its territory, Musharraf said in an interview with CNN, according to a transcript. "It is the Pakistani forces who act."

Al-Qaeda operates with relative freedom in remote areas of northwest Pakistan and has been able to rebuild its forces there since Musharraf agreed that tribal leaders should control that region, a top U.S. State Department official and U.S. intelligence officials said in July.