US gave Bhutto threat information, security advice before killing

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The United States provided a steady stream of intelligence to Benazir Bhutto about threats against her before the former Pakistani prime minister was assassinated and advised her aides on how to boost security, although key suggestions appear to have gone unheeded, US officials said Monday. Senior US diplomats had multiple conversations, including at least two private face-to-face meetings, with top members of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party to discuss threats on her life and review her security arrangements after a suicide bombing marred her initial return to Pakistan from exile in October, the officials told The Associated Press. The intelligence was also shared with the Pakistani government, the officials said. Much of what was passed on dealt with general threats from Taliban extremists and al-Qaida sympathizers and "was not actionable information."