The United Arab Emirates condemned the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and called for the country to unite. "The UAE has been tormented by this huge loss, which did not hit Pakistan only, but also affected the UAE," Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said in a statement carried by the official WAM news agency.
"Words fail to express our condemnation of this criminal act and our pain for the loss of Benazir Bhutto," he said, calling on the Pakistani people to "unite and put their differences aside. The UAE was Benazir's home during her eight years in exile and her family had remained in Dubai after her return to Pakistan in October.