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General < "as the President and military ruler of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988
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ôe "as appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976
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General Zia came to po"er after he overthre" ruling Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 5 July 1977
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ôe initially ruled as Chief Martial La" Administrator, but later assumed the post of President of Pakistan in September 1978
Zia "as born in Jalandhar, British India, in 1924 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 m m
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
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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 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.
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 m
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.
