m General <



 "as the President and
military ruler of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in
August 1988

m ôe "as appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976

m General Zia came to po"er after he overthre" ruling Prime

Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 5 July 1977

m ôe initially ruled as Chief Martial La" Administrator, but later

assumed the post of President of Pakistan in September
1978
m Zia "as born in Jalandhar, British India, in 1924
m ôe "as commissioned in the British Indian Army
in a cavalry regiment on 12 May, 1943 and served
during World War II
m After Pakistan gained its independence, Zia
joined the ne"ly formed Pakistan Army as a
major
m ôe "as trained in the United States in 1962Ȃ
1964 at the US Army Command and General
Staff College Fort Leaven"orth, Kansas
 Zia "as stationed in Jordan from 1967 to 1970
as a Brigadier, helping in the training of
Jordanian soldiers
 ôe leading the training mission into battle
during the Black September operations as
commander of Jordanian 2nd Division
 ôe "as then promoted as Lt Gen and "as
appointed commander of the II Strike Corps
at Multan in 1975
 On 1 March 1976, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto approved Zia-ul-ôaq as Chief of Army
Staff, ahead of a number of more senior
officers, most likely because both of them are
from the Arain tribe
 On 8 January 1977 a large number of
opposition political parties grouped to form
the Pakistan National Alliance
 Bhutto called fresh elections, and PNA
participated in those elections in full force
 Due to various administrative problems, the
elections turned out to be a big failure that
resulted in civil disorder
m As a result of intense civil disorder, Bhutto
and members of his cabinet "ere arrested by
troops under the order of General Zia on July
5, 1977
m After assuming po"er as Chief Martial La"
Administrator, General Zia promised to hold
National and Provincial Assembly elections in
the next 90 days and to hand over po"er to
the representatives of the nation.
m Nusrat Bhutto, the "ife of the deposed Prime
Minister, filed a suit against General Zia's
military regime, challenging the validity of the
July 1977 military coup
m The Supreme Court of Pakistan decided that
given the dangerously unstable political
situation of the time, General Zia's overthro"ing
of the Bhutto government "as legal on the
grounds of necessity
m The judgment tightened the general's hold on
the government
 President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry "as persuaded to continue in
office as a figurehead
 After completing his term, and despite General Zia's
insistence to accept an extension as President, Mr Chaudhry
resigned, and General Zia also assumed the office of
President of Pakistan on 16 September 1978.
 Thus his position "as cemented as the undisputed ruler of
the country
 On 4 April 1979, the former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto "as hanged, after the Supreme Court upheld the
death sentence as passed by the Lahore ôigh Court.
 The hanging of an elected prime minister by a military
man "as condemned by the international community
and by la"yers and jurists across Pakistan.
 Today it is "idely accepted as a politically motivated
judicial murder. People believe that Bhutto "as framed
into the case.
 On 17 August 1988, General Zia and five of his generals
visited a test site to observe a demonstration of the M1
Abrams main battle tank, "hich the US "as trying to
persuade Pakistan to buy.
 ôe and his entourage fle" to Baha"alpur, about 330 mi
(530 km) south of Islamabad in the president's C-130
ôercules aircraft, then fle" to the test site by helicopter.
 After"ards, they returned to Baha"alpur for lunch, then
boarded the C-130 for the return flight to Islamabad.
 The aircraft departed Baha"alpur early,
ahead of a storm
 The president's C-130 had been fitted "ith an
air-conditioned VIP capsule "here Zia and his
American guests "ere seated
 It "as "alled off from the flight cre" and a
passenger and baggage section in the rear.
 The plane "as packed "ith Pakistani army
officers, including General Akhtar Abdur
Rehman, chairman of the Pakistani Joint
Chiefs of Staff
 American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold
Raphel and General ôerbert M. Wassom, the
head of the U.S. Military aid mission to
Pakistan "ere also present in the same very
plane.
 Shortly after takeoff, the control to"er lost
contact "ith the aircraft
 Witnesses cited in Pakistan's official
investigation said that the C-130 began to
pitch "in an up-and-do"n motion" "hile
flying lo" shortly after take-off before going
into a "near-vertical dive", exploding on
impact, killing all on board.
 Washington sent a team of USAF officers to
assist the Pakistanis in the investigation, but
the t"o sides reached sharply different
conclusions.
 Mrs Ely-Raphel and Brigadier-General Wassom's "ido" "ere
both told by US investigators that the crash had been caused
by a mechanical problem common "ith the C-130,
 According to US investigating team a similar incident had
occurred to a C-130 in Colorado "hich had narro"ly avoided
crashing.
 Robert Oakley, "ho replaced Arnold Raphel as US
ambassador follo"ing the crash and helped to handle the
investigation has also expressed the same point of vie"
 ôe has pointed out that 20 or 30 C-130s have
suffered similar incidents
 ôe has identified the mechanical fault as a
problem "ith the hydraulics in the tail
assembly
 Although USAF pilots had handled similar
emergencies, the Pakistani pilots "ere less
"ell equipped to do so, lacking C-130
experience and also flying lo"
 Some "eeks after the crash, a 27-page
summary of a secret 365-page report "as
produced by Pakistani investigators
 In that report they said that they had found
evidence of possible problems "ith the
aircraft's elevator booster package, as "ell as
frayed or snapped control cables
 Analysis by a US lab found "extensive contamination" by
brass and aluminium particles in the elevator booster
package
 But the report said "failure of the elevator control system
due to a mechanical failure... is ruled outDz
 It cited the aircraft-maker Lockheed as saying that "even
"ith the level of contamination found in the system, they
have not normally experienced any problems other than
"ear"
 The report concluded that the contamination
of the elevator booster package might at
"orst have caused sluggish controls leading
to over-control but not to an accident
 In the absence of a mechanical cause, the
Pakistani inquiry concluded that the crash
"as due to an act of sabotage.
 They found no conclusive evidence of an explosion on the
aircraft, but said that chemicals that could be used in small
explosives "ere detected in mango seeds and a piece of rope
found on the aircraft

 They also added that "the use of a chemical agent to

incapacitate the pilots and thus perpetuate the accident
therefore remains a distinct possibility"
 Barbara Crossette, bureau chief of The Ne" York Times in
South Asia from 1988 to 1991 has "ritten that,

"Of all the violent political deaths in the t"entieth century,

none "ith such great interest to the U.S. has been more
clouded than the mysterious air crash that killed president
(and Army Chief General) Muhammad Zia-ul-ôaq of Pakistan
in (August) 1988, a tragedy that also claimed the life of the
serving American ambassador and most of General Ziaǯs top
commanders"
 No evidence has come to light to prove a
conspiracy, although several theories do
exist.
 The United States, India, follo"ed by
Afghanistan and the Soviet Union have all
been suspected
 In addition, Zia had enemies at a high level
"ithin Pakistan's o"n government
 A common suspicion "ithin Pakistan, although "ith no
proof, is that the crash "as a political assassination carried
out by the American CIA or by the Soviet KGB

 One theory had it that the CIA had spiked mangos "ith VX
gas to eliminate Zia because of his unreliable commitment to
a more democratic government and his loyalty to Afghan
Mujahidin
 Another theory, also "ith little supporting evidence, is that
the KGB "as involved, as retaliation for the US-Pakistani
support for the Afghan insurgency against the USSR
throughout the 1980s.
 Considerable evidence exists that the Soviet Union kne"
about the US-Pakistan support for the Mujahideen, and the
KGB might have seen this as an opportunity to punish both
Pakistan and the United States
 The existence of a motive, ho"ever, is not sufficient to prove
KGB involvement
 General ôameed Gul, the head of Pakistanǯs
Inter Services Intelligence agency at the time,
suggested that the US might be responsible,
even though the US Ambassador and military
attaché "ere also killed

 ôe told è
è
 that the Pakistani President

"as killed in a conspiracy involving a "foreign
po"er"
 Early reports suggested that Raphel had only
been summoned to join the flight at the last
minute, "hich fueled conspiracy theories
blaming the US

 ôo"ever, Raphel's "ido" has stated that her

husband al"ays planned to join General Zia
on the aircraft, and that it "as General
Wassom "ho "as added at the last minute.
 Some have suspected the anti-Zia group al-Zulfikar, led by
Murtaza Bhutto, brother of Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani
politician "ho "ould ultimately gain most from Zia's
departure

 General Zia's son Ijaz-ul-ôaq told Barbara Crossette a year

after the crash that he "as "101 percent sure" that Murtaza
"as involved. Benazir Bhutto suggested that the fatal crash
might "ell have been an "act of God"
 She "as also accused of having rejoiced at
Zia's death, because Zia had ordered her
father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged.
 People have also pointed to some senior
dissatisfied generals of the Pakistan Army
itself
 General Mirza Aslam Beg, "ho became Chief
of Army Staff follo"ing General Zia's death,
"itnessed the crash from his aircraft, "hich
had just taken off.
 Instead of returning to Baha"alpur he instead
headed for Islamabad
 This action later caused controversy and led
some to allege that he "as involved in the
incident since he had reportedly been
scheduled to fly "ith Zia in the flight, but had
changed his plans at the last minute
 ôe "as later accused by Zia's son Ijaz-ul-ôaq
as being behind the attack
 It "as mentioned in a piece in è


è
 on 24 August 2008 that the pilot of the
C-130, Wing Commander Mash'hood ôassan,
had previously confided to an associate of
Abdul Qadeer Khan that he hated Zia, and
held him responsible for the murder of a local
religious figure, saying that "The day Zia flies
"ith me, that "ill be his last flight"
 In the Fall 2005 ¦
    

, John
Gunther Dean, a former US ambassador to
India, blamed the Mossad, the Israeli
intelligence agency, for orchestrating Zia's
assassination in retaliation for Pakistan
developing a nuclear "eapon to counteract
India, and to prevent Zia, an effective Muslim
leader, from continuing to influence US
foreign policy.
 It has also been postulated by some sources
that Gen.Zia's mysterious death benefited
the then Top brass of Pakistani
Military,especially the person "ho became
the head of the Pakistani military after the
death of Gen Zia.
 The role of chief of first armored division, Maj
Gen Mehmood Ali Durrani, remains
suspicious "ho persuaded/tempted Gen Zia
to "atch over the tank exercise at
Baha"alpur.