January 28, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 27, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 27: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party Benazir Bhutto has expressed grief and shock over the death of veteran politician and ANP Rahbar Khan Abdul Wali Khan.

In a condolence message, the former prime minister paid rich tributes to the late Wali Khan saying that he was one of the last freedom fighters in the South Asian subcontinent whose struggle and sacrifices in the cause of freedom would be long remembered.

She said after independence Wali Khan devoted his life to the struggle for restoration of democracy and rights of the smaller federating units and left a deep imprint on the national political scene.

Wali Khan fought the battle for life as tenaciously as he had fought the battle for democracy and the rights of oppressed people during his lifetime, she said. His last brave battle for life was as courageous and dauntless as was his political struggle in life.

She said in his death Pakistan had lost one of those rare leaders who adopted politics as a means for the emancipation of their people and not for their personal aggrandisement.

Many may have disagreed with his political views but none will assert that Wali Khan did not believe in the values that he so passionately advocated and pleaded, she said.