The killing of the former premier, who had staged a political comeback after returning from exile to fight in elections next month, "is a disaster for a country that is already flirting with state failure," said the Financial Times, the British business daily.

The "violent death leaves a hole in national politics and adds a vicious extra dimension of disintegration to a country that is already falling apart after decades of civilian and military misrule," it said in an editorial.

Italy's Corriere della Sera said "Pakistan is becoming an ever bigger atomic time bomb" and highlighted fears that the military could take back power after the death of Bhutto, who was killed by a suicide bomber on Thursday.

The Times of London said Pakistan was now in "The Nightmare Scenario".

Jordanian newspaper Al-Dustour said "Bhutto's assassination is a terrible act that paves the way for a civil war in Pakistan, the country was already facing a difficult time because of religious, ethnic and political reasons."

"All indications show that Pakistan will go into a dark and a difficult stage."

Newspapers in Muslim Turkey warned that Pakistan risks prolonged instability.

"Pakistan's internal peace, stability and democratic future has been slayed along with Bhutto.... This is a big blow for Pakistan that will ruin her future," the liberal Milliyet daily said.

Leading US newspapers urged President George W. Bush to reassess his unconditional backing of President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the US "war on terror".

"American policy must now be directed at building a strong democracy in Pakistan that has the respect and the support of its own citizens and the will and the means to fight Al-Qaeda and the Taliban," said a New York Times editorial.

"The days of Washington mortgaging its interests there to one or two individuals must finally come to an end."

The Washington Post said "elections held -- on January 8 or soon afterward -- and a restored democracy remain the best way for the centrist majority in Pakistan to rally against the forces of extremism that yesterday realized a great, though despicable, victory."

Germany's conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the murder of Bhutto "shows in a terrible way the state Pakistan is in and how far it is from even a halfway stable situation."

France's Liberation newspaper said the assassination was a "dramatic escalation" of turmoil "which threatens even the existence of this state still struggling to find its identity and stability 60 years after its creation."

Belgian newspaper Le Soir said Pakistan is in crisis. "Democracy is writhing in blood, it could soon be without life, in this country of religious extremism and military authoritarianism."

In Beijing, the official China News Service said however that Bhutto's assassination would result in a renewed resolve by Pakistan to fight terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism.

"This could push the tense relationship between President Musharraf and the opposition toward temporary unity as it will harden the opposition's determination to fight terrorism," the agency said.

"No matter what the result of the elections, this is going to firm up the anti-terrorism policies of the Pakistani government."

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