Pakistan Views

Anti-Terrorism Court Rawalpindi adjourned hearing of bail plea of Benazir Bhutto murder case accused till May 31. Five accused of the case were appeared before the court for hearing on Saturday.The counsel of accused Aitzaz Shah pleaded to the court during the hearing that the accused has been a minor and requested for transfer of his case to normal court from the ATC.The court’s presiding judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman ordered medical test of accused Aitzaz Shah to determine his age. The court later adjourned the hearing of bail plea till May 31. Sardar Ishaq advocate appeared before the court on behalf of the state.

The Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan on Monday adjourned the case of five suspected militants accused of involvement in the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto till March 18, court officials said. The five men were all arrested in the weeks following BB martyrdom at a political rally in Rawalpindi on December 27 and last appeared at the court here adjoining Islamabad a week ago. Judge Habibur Rehman ordered copies of the official charges to be provided to suspects Aitzaz Shah, Hasnain Gul, Abdul Rashid, Sher Zaman and Rafaqat — who goes by one name, a court official told AFP. The judge said that the men would be formally charged at the next hearing on March 18, he said, adding that some relatives were allowed to briefly meet the suspects.The suspects were brought to court by police commandos in a motorcade escorted by armoured personnel carriers with their faces covered and in handcuffs, an AFP photographer said. Police had cordoned off the court premises and surroundings and the suspects were taken to the city’s main Adiala jail after the hearing, he added. Police arrested Shah and Zaman from Dera Ismail Khan in January and the other three from Rawalpindi in February. Gul and Rafaqat confessed in February to helping and providing shelter to the suicide attacker, identified as Bilal.

A top Taliban commander has been formally charged with plotting the murder of former premier Benazir Bhutto and declared an absconder Saturday, police said. Baitullah Mehsud, an al Qaeda-linked militant commander, based in the tribal area of South Waziristan, is accused by the government and the United States CIA of masterminding the assassination.
“We have submitted preliminary charges against Baitullah Mehsud in connection with Benazir Bhutto’s murder in an anti-terrorism court Rawalpindi,” a senior police official told AFP. “The court has declared Mehsud and four other suspects absconders in the case and issued non-bailable warrants for their arrest,” the official said but declined to give further details. Five other people have already been arrested in connection with the gun and suicide attack in Rawalpindi on December 27.
Bhutto was the target of militants because she had backed the government’s action against terrorists and was seen as pro-Western, according to investigators. Her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has demanded a UN probe rejecting the findings by British police that a lone assassin shot her but missed and then detonated explosives, which made her fatally smash her skull against her car.

The two accused in the Benazir Bhutto murder case have confessed committing the crime in the judicial court here on Wednesday.
Arrested recently from different areas of Rawalpindi, the suspects, Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat were produced before a Rawalpindi magestrate today
According to sources, both the accused recorded their confessional statements before the magistrate, after which they were sent to Adiala Jail Two other suspects Aitizaz Shah and Sherzaman are already in the custody of Rawalpindi police. The were arrested from Dera Ismael Khan

Central Secretary Information Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Shery Rehman has said the portion of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s will relating to political affairs has been issue to the press in original form.
Talking to state TV on Thursday she said, however the matters relating to her family affairs relate to family members and it is not necessary to make them public.
She said that all the central leadership of the party has seen the will of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto soon after her martyrdom adding they endorsed and supported it unanimously.
However the party leadership decided to make the document public on a date close to the Chehlum of late leader, she said.
She said that earlier the party leadership was of the opinion that this document would be made public when museum on the life accounts of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is inaugurated adding it was also decided to publish the will in the second addition of BB’s autobiography.
She reiterated the position of her party with respect to candidate for the slot of future prime minister saying Asif Ali Zardari has not been nominated by the party in this connection.
It is imperative for an individual to become a member of National Assembly to qualify for candidature of prime minister ship, she said, adding Asif Ali Zardari is not contesting the election.
When her attention was drawn towards the statement attributed to Senator Babar Awan the PPP Information Secretary said if he uttered anything about the candidature of Asif Ali Zardari, it would be his personal view and not of the whole party.

British detective team once again arrived in Pakistan to hand the investigation report on December 27 attack in Liaquat Bagh.
Three members of the Scotland Yard team arrived in Islamabad here in Islamabad early today (Thursday’s) morning by British Airways. On this occasion, stringent security arrangements were taken up and they (British team) were kept at bay from the media.
Earlier, various members of Scotland Yard team conducted the investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s murder and returned to their homeland. They have come back after two weeks.
According to the officials, the British detectives will share their report with the concerned Pakistani investigation officials.

The US director of national intelligence, Michael McConnell, told a Senate panel in Washington DC that that terrorist assassination of Benazir Bhutto could embolden ‘Pushtoon’ militants, increasing their confidence that they can strike the “Pakistani establishment” anywhere in the country.
In his testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the CIA chief also warned that radical elements in Pakistan had the potential to undermine the country’s cohesiveness. He also said that Pakistan army’s management of nuclear policy issues-to include physical security-has not been degraded by Pakistan’s political crisis.
THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS:
– Pakistan is a critical partner in US counter-terrorism efforts, but continues to face an array of challenges complicating its effectiveness against al Qaeda and other radical elements operating in the country. These challenges include coping with an unparalleled level of suicide attacks ordered by Pakistan-based militants, many of whom are allied with al Qaeda. At least 865 security forces and civilians were killed by suicide bombings and IEDs in 2007. Four hundred ninety-six security forces and civilians also were killed in armed clashes in 2007 to make a total of 1360 killed in 2007. Total casualties in 2007 including the number of injured security forces and civilians exceeded the cumulative total for all years between 2001 and 2006.
– Pakistan is establishing a new modus vivendi among the Army, President Musharraf, and elected civilian leaders now that Musharraf has stepped down as Army chief. Pakistani authorities are increasingly determined to strengthen their counter-terrorism performance, even during a period of heightened political tension that we expect to continue over the next year.
– Radical elements in Pakistan have the potential to undermine the country’s cohesiveness. The terrorist assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto could embolden Pashtun militants, increasing their confidence that they can strike the Pakistani establishment anywhere in the country.
– The killing of Bhutto weakens the political party in Pakistan with the broadest national reach and most secular orientation, the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP). However, sympathetic voters could give the party the largest number of Assembly seats in the upcoming national elections.
– The Pakistani government’s current plans will require intensified and sustained efforts to orchestrate the administrative, economic, educational, legal, and social reforms required to defeat Islamic extremism and militancy. Pakistan’s law and order problems arising from tribal and religious militancy can be effectively addressed in the long term only if police and paramilitary forces can more reliably provide justice and border security. All of these administrative reforms require effective political leadership focused on improving the capabilities of Pakistani institutions for effective governance and development of economic opportunity.
PAKISTAN NUCLEAR SECURITY: We judge the ongoing political uncertainty in Pakistan has not seriously threatened the military’s control of the nuclear arsenal, but vulnerabilities exist. The Pakistan Army oversees nuclear programs, including security responsibilities, and we judge that the Army’s management of nuclear policy issues-to include physical security-has not been degraded by Pakistan’s political crisis.
AL-QAEDA: Al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates continue to pose significant threats to the United States at home and abroad, and al Qaeda’s central leadership based in the border area of Pakistan is its most dangerous component.
Last July, we published a National Intelligence Estimate titled, “The Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland,” which assessed that al Qaeda’s central leadership in the past two years has been able to regenerate the core operational capabilities needed to conduct attacks in the Homeland:
– Al Qaeda has been able to retain a safehaven in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that provides the organisation many of the advantages it once derived from its base across the border in Afghanistan, albeit on a smaller and less secure scale. The FATA serves as a staging area for al Qaeda’s attacks in support of the Taliban in Afghanistan as well as a location for training new terrorist operatives, for attacks in Pakistan, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States.
– Using the sanctuary in the border area of Pakistan, al Qaeda has been able to maintain a cadre of skilled lieutenants capable of directing the organisation’s operations around the world. It has lost many of its senior operational planners over the years, but the group’s adaptable decision making process and bench of skilled operatives have enabled it to identify effective replacements.
– Al Qaeda’s top leaders Osama Bin Ladin and Ayman al- Zawahiri continue to be able to maintain al Qaeda’s unity and its focus on their strategic vision of confronting our allies and us with mass casualty attacks around the globe.
– Although security concerns preclude them from the day-today running of the organisation, Bin Ladin and Zawahiri regularly pass inspirational messages and specific operational guidance to their followers through public statements.
– Al Qaeda is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the US: the identification, training, and positioning of operatives for an attack in the Homeland. While increased security measures at home and abroad have caused al Qaeda to view the West, especially the US, as a harder target, we have seen an influx of new Western recruits into the tribal areas since mid-2006.

Members of Pakistan Peoples Party and Muslim League (N) once again demanded UN prone into Benazir murder case during Senate session today.

Opposition leader Raza Rabbani opened a debate in the Senate on the condolence reference on Benazir’s assassination Jan Mohammad Jamali chaired the Senate Session.

The Senate session was an emotional affair, when a teary-eyed Raza Rabbani said he found speaking on Benazir Bhutto’s murder as the most difficult thing in his life.

Rabbani told the Senate that Benazir was aware of the threat she was facing and had aired her fears in the last days of her life. She sacrificed her life for principles and democracy, even though opponents termed her as a security risk. He further said that she was the founder of Pakistan’s missile programme and a great patriot.

He said that Benazir was the symbol of the federation and did not discriminate between Sindhi, Punjabi, Balochis and Pushto speaking people.

Commenting on the government led investigation into Benazir’s murder, Rabbani said that PPP did not accept this investigation and wanted a UN probe similar to the one into Rafiq Harriri’s murder.

Ishaque Dar of Muslim League (N) said that government should conduct UN probe into Benazri murder on the demand of Peoples Party.

Ministry of Interior (MoI) has claimed that suicide bomber Bilal blew himself up and his accomplice Ikram shot Benazir Bhutto on Dec 27.
Secretary Interior Said Kamalshah told journalists that there was two-minute gap between shooting and explosion.
Twenty-two out of twenty-three dead victims of the Dec 27 blast have been identified, he said.
It is believed the unidentified head is of the suicide bomber Bilal. Kamal Shah said that suspect Ikram who fired on Benazir Bhutto fled the scene
The secretary said that revelations by suspect Aitizaz Shah confirm that he is trained suicide bomber, having met with Bilal and Ikram and Baitullah Mahsood.