Pakistan: It just keeps getting worse

Just when everyone thought there was nothing more that could happen in Pakistan this year, a suicide bomber struck an election rally one evening killing the country's most charismatic politician. Benazir Bhutto was only 54.

Just when everyone thought there was nothing more that could happen in Pakistan this year, a suicide bomber struck an election rally one evening killing the country's most charismatic politician. Benazir Bhutto was only 54 and had just returned home after a long exile few weeks ago. She had been greeted with a terrifying explosion that killed 140 people walking with her homecoming parade.

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Pakistan was on the boil all of 2007, starting with Presi dent Pervez Musharraf 's attempt to bring in line a seemingly uncooperative chief justice of the Supreme Court. An easy task normally for any military dictator, but things haven't being going well for this dictator. No sooner had he sacked the top judge that the country erupted. Lawyers took to the streets with ordinary Pakistanis cheering them on silently . And guess who backed down? Musharraf, of course. The chief justice was back in office shortly .

This embarrassing affair had hardly sorted itself when another hit the government -- the Lal Masjid-military stand off. Musharraf sent in commandoes to bring around its defiant mullahs. Over a 100 people died and militants around the country swore vengeance.

Not good going for the embattled president, who would soon lose his uniform too -- forced to give it up. It was this that Musharraf wanted to prevent by removing the Supreme Court chief justice. He failed in both. And now he is in trouble -- not trusted by a lot of Pakistanis. A lot of them blame Musharraf 's government for Bhutto's assassination.

The Pakistan story is not yet over.