Pakistan Views

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto put herself in harm’s way, Pakistan’s envoy to the United States suggested on Sunday, after President Pervez Musharraf’s admitted she may have been killed by a gunman.

“If she had not come out of the protected, armoured vehicle, maybe we would have seen her smiling face again today,” ambassador to the United States Mahmoud Ali Durrani told CNN television, asked Sunday about Musharraf’s comment for a soon-to-be broadcast interview on CBS.

But Musharraf’s comments run counter to the interior ministry’s official finding that the gunman missed his target and Benazir died from bashing her head against the car’s sunroof as she ducked for cover.

The president told CBS in the interview to be broadcast Sunday, that a gunshot could have been the cause of Benazir’s fatal injuries after all. Asked if Benazir might have been shot, he answered: “Yes, absolutely, yes. Possibility.”

Durrani insisted it was too early to make any call. “I would certainly say that the investigation is ongoing and we should not jump to conclusions. But it is a fact, also, that she was a great leader, a very charismatic leader of Pakistan, which we are very sorry we have lost her,” he said.

The ambassador would not say if he believed Al Qaeda or the Taliban were responsible for her assassination. “I will not be convinced 100 percent. The investigation is going on. We’ve called Scotland Yard.” He added: “If we prejudge everything now, why have an investigation?”

Scotland Yard anti-terrorism investigators examined Benazir’s car for evidence on Sunday, a security official said, after visiting the crime scene the day before.

The belief by intelligence organisations that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is in a remote border area is just “speculation,” envoy to the United States said. Mahmoud Ali Durrani was asked about an interview President Pervez Musharraf gave to CBS television, to be broadcast later Sunday. CNN quoted Musharraf as saying of bin Laden: “There is no proof whatsoever that he’s here. “We are not particularly looking for him, but we are operating against him and Al-Qaeda and militant Taliban and in the process obviously combined maybe we are looking for him also.”

Durrani sought to clarify saying “I think the president is suggesting that neither we, nor the US, has any intelligence where exactly Osama bin Laden is.” “He may be in Afghanistan,” the ambassador said. “He may be in the border region. If we knew where he was, we would have taken him out.”

The New York Times reported that under a proposal being discussed in Washington, CIA operatives based in Afghanistan would be able to call on direct military support for counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan. Durrani noted that US and other foreign intelligence agencies believe bin Laden to be sheltering in the tribal area along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. But “that’s just speculation,” the envoy said.

“Believe me. If they knew or we knew we would have taken him out,” he said. “And when Musharraf says that he’s not specifically looking for Osama, what he really means is that we are totally focused on destroying Al-Qaeda and the Taliban network and not just one person.”

JUI Chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman has said in present circumstances the Scotland Yard team will find itself helpless regarding the probe into assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Talking to mediamen at election office in Dera Ismail Khan, Fazl-ur-Rehman accused the government of creating a wheat and power crisis in the country just to divert people’s attention from the real issues.

Referring to Benazir’s assassination, the JUI-F leader criticized the government for naming Baitullah Mahsud as a possible suspect. He added that neither the PPP nor Baitullah Mahsud had yet accepted the government’s version of the truth.

British anti-terrorism police on Saturday started examining evidence in the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto, officials said.

Armed commandos enforced a security cordon as Scotland Yard detectives made their first inspection of the Liaqat Bagh public park where Benazir was martyred as she left a campaign rally on December 27, an AFP photographer witnessed.

The arrival of the five-man British squad on Friday has only deepened the conspiracy theories swirling around the gun and suicide attack on Benazir, which sparked violent unrest across country and set vital elections back six weeks.

“The Scotland Yard team is examining the venue where she addressed a rally and the site where she was attacked,” a Rawalpindi police official told AFP on Saturday.

Pakistan’s interior ministry has blamed the attack on an alleged al Qaeda militant and says Benazir martyred from an accidental head wound sustained as she ducked for cover as a gunman opened fire on her motorcade.

But party aides who were by her side at the time say she died from a gunshot to the head. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, refused to allow an autopsy before she was buried, saying “we know how she died.”

The PPP has demanded a UN probe into Benazir’s martyrdom similar to the one into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, but the government has ruled out such an investigation.

President Pervez Musharraf conceded that a gunman may have shot martyred Benazir Bhutto but said the opposition leader exposed herself to danger and bore responsibility for her martyrdom, CBS News said on Saturday.

Musharraf was also quoted as telling the CBS “60 Minutes” program to be broadcast on Sunday that his government did everything it could to provide security for martyred Benazir Bhutto, who was killed last week in a gun and suicide-bomb attack after a political rally.

“For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone nobody else. Responsibility is hers,” Musharraf said in the interview taped on Saturday morning.

Pakistan’s government has said Benazir Bhutto martyred when she struck her head on a handle on her vehicle’s sunroof — a contention widely derided in Pakistan where many people suspect Musharraf’s government of complicity. The government has also blamed al Qaeda for the attack.

Musharraf was asked by CBS, which provided excerpts of the interview, whether a gunshot could have caused martyred Benazir Bhutto’s head injury. He replied, “Yes, yes.”

The questioner asked, “So she may have been shot?” and Musharraf said, “Yes, absolutely, yes. Possibility.”

In an opinion article in the Washington Post, Asif Ali Zardari urged that a caretaker government be named to oversee national elections that were postponed until next month and he outlined other standards for assessing their legitimacy.

“Democracy in Pakistan can be saved, and extremism and fanaticism contained, only if the elections, when they are held, are free, fair and credible,” he wrote.

CBS asked Musharraf whether he believed the government did everything possible for her security. “Absolutely,” he said. “She was given more security than any other person.”

Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has appealed to the United States, UK and other countries to support the PPP’s demand for a United Nations investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

In an opinion piece for an American newspaper, Mr Zardari wrote that the agencies had started working against Benazir Bhutto after her assuming power as prime minister, while baseless allegations leveled against her political allies to weaken the democratic government.

He reiterated earlier demands that a U.N. probe like the one that investigated the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was the only way to reveal the truth about the murder.

“Those responsible — within and outside of government — must be held accountable,” wrote Zardari.

Asif Ali Zardari called for the caretaker government and Election Commission to be re-constituted, in consultation with all major political parties.

Another key demand is for international observers to be given the right to conduct exit polls at polling station — something ruled out by the caretaker government.

Additionally, the PPP co-chairman also called for the restoration of the media and the release of all detained political activists, lawyers and judges.

Counter-terrorism experts from Scotland Yard on Saturday made their first inspection of the site where former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was martyred last week, police said.

Armed commandos enforced a security cordon around the Liaquat Bath public park where Benazir was martyred shortly after leaving a campaign rally on December 27, an AFP photographer witnessed.

The seven-member team of British detectives arrived on Friday, a day after President Pervez Musharraf’s announcement that their specialist skills in forensics would assist Pakistani agencies in determining how Benazir died.

“The Scotland Yard team is examining the venue where she addressed a rally and the site where she was attacked,” a Rawalpindi police official told AFP.

Interior Ministry of Pakistan has blamed the gun and suicide attack on an alleged al Qaeda militant and says Benazir died from an accidental head wound as she ducked for cover.

But Benazir’s aides who were by her side during the attack say she died from a gunshot to the head. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, refused to allow an autopsy before she was buried, saying “we know how she died.”

President Musharraf bristled on Thursday when asked whether the Britons would be allowed to question politicians and an intelligence chief whom Benazir had accused of plotting to martyr her, saying there would be no “wild goose chase.”

A seven-member investigation team of Scotland Yard detectives arrived in Pakistan to assist the government in the investigation in the case of martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto. The team, headed by David Keith, was received by officials of the British High Commission at Islamabad airport and was taken to the High Commission office for preliminary briefing.

The members of the team remained tight lipped at airport and did not respond to any queries of newsmen. The Scotland Yard team consists of highly professional detectives. It would help probe the case of December 27, 2007 Liaquat Bagh shooting and suicide bombing.

Sources said that the Scotland Yard team was given a detailed briefing regarding the preliminary investigation by the Ministry of Interior in Islamabad. Police in Rawalpindi said that the four-member police investigation team, headed by Additional Inspector-General Police (AIGP), Punjab, Abdul Majeed would also give briefing to the Scotland Yard detectives.

Scotland Yard detectives were for the first time invited to investigate the case when Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was shot dead here in Liaquat Bagh, then called ‘Company Bagh’. Coincidentally, Benazir Bhutto herself had invited Scotland Yard to investigate the murder of her brother Murtaza Bhutto in Karachi in September 20, 1996.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday rejected a probe by Scotland Yard into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and reiterated the demand for UN-sponsored commission to investigate the incident.

Addressing a press conference after the joint meeting of the party central executive committee and federal council, Asif Zardari, while condemning postponement of the general elections till Feb 18, said the PPP will fully participate in the rescheduled elections and would not allow the rulers to flee.

He scoffed at the caretaker government as a bunch of immature and amateur politicians, who had no experience in running any government, advising them to resign and be replaced with an experienced caretaker set-up capable of conducting free, fair and transparent elections.

Flanked by Yousuf Raza Gillani, Jahangir Bader, Sherry Rehman, Syed Qaim Ali Shah and other top party leaders, he warned the rulers of severe consequences if they rigged the polls. He announced a six-member committee to decide about inviting an inquiry commission of the UN. The committee includes Sherry Rehman, Senator Latif Khosa, Farooq A Naek, Begum Abida Hussain and others.

He berated the government for not calling in Scotland Yard after the first attack on Benazir Bhutto in Karachi after she returned home from self-exile. He called upon the authorities not to arrest party’s friends and workers as the incidents in the aftermath of assassination of Benazir Bhutto were not part of party’s planned confrontation but instant expression of sentiments of grieved people.

“We don’t want confrontation because late ZA Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto have taught us to love”. The PPP co-chairman said the party has decided to send delegations abroad and tell them and convince them that they should pay heed to what the people say and not to rulers.

Asif Zardari said that the PPP will not join the government-sponsored investigation until our demand is accepted. He said he is contacting the world leaders in this regard. The PPP co-chairman said that at this stage there is no room for any change in the list of party ticket holders.

He told a questioner that we don’t believe in the politics of confrontation and are exercising utmost restraint. He said a delegation of PPP Rawalpindi met him and asked him to start his political activities from there. Asif Zardari said he will visit the Liaquat Bagh soon.

On the occasion, Jahangir Bader read out texts of two resolutions passed in the joint meeting of CEC and federal council, which met here at Bhutto house and decided to hold the ‘Chelum’ of Benazir Bhutto on February 7.

Scotland Yard’s investigators may not have much to work with in the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, leading to an inquiry that raises more questions than answers, analysts say.

A senior government official, who could not be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said there might not be much the Scotland Yard team can do.

“They will come here and ask for two things. Do you have a post-mortem report? Do you know the cause of death? They will ask for a detailed post-mortem report — and we don’t have any,” the official said.

“I seriously do not think there is anything for them to investigate.”

The official account of Benazi’s death appeared to unravel almost as soon as it was presented, fuelling conspiracy theories in a nation already awash in them — and magnifying a feeling of outrage.

The government said the gunman shot and missed, but Benazir aides swore they saw bullet wounds on her body. It said she died banging her head on her car sunroof, but videos and pictures called that explanation into question.

President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday announced to invite a British team of Scotland Yard to assist Government’s investigators in conducting the probe into the assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

Addressing the nation live on State and private TV channels, the President also announced to form a commission to assess the damage suffered by the people in the recent riots following the incident of Ms Bhutto’s killing.

“It is essential to go into details of how Ms Benazir Bhutto was martyred. It is necessary to remove the nation’s confusion over the manner in which she was assassinated,” he said, adding, “I request media not to add to this confusion.”

President Pervez Musharraf said Scotland Yard has been requested to send its investigation team to Pakistan. The team will arrive here shortly and assist our investigators engaged in the probe of Ms Bhutto’s murder, he added.

“In this regard I thank the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who accepted our request,” he said.

“I hope the high level investigation into the murder case of Ms Bhutto will help remove all the doubts.”

Mentioning the names of Baitullah Mehsud and Maulana Fazlullah, he said the same quarters are also involved in Benazir’s assassination.

President Musharraf called Benazir a martyr and said her mission has always been his mission as well. He said that he would now carry forward her struggle for democracy and the fight against terrorism.

He said the demise of Ms Bhutto caused the situation to deteriorate to such extent that it led to fill the overall atmosphere with uncertainty.

“I realize the grief of Ms Bhutto’s sad demise permeates the rank and file of Pakistan Peoples Party as well as my Sindhi brothers and sisters,” President Musharraf pointed out, adding “I am also grieved and annoyed over this tragic incident.”

He said he fully valued the sentiments of the whole nation.

He pointed out that when the whole nation particularly the PPP was expressing their shock and anger, some miscreants, mobs and political elements resorted to plundering and causing damage to the public and private property. As a result the whole nation had suffered huge losses amounting to hundreds of billions rupees.

The President said this situation could not be tolerated and action and stopped by taking a prompt action in this regard. He directed to take action against the negligent authorities.

He said people who suffered damage will be compensated. For this I have ordered to constitute a commission to assess the damage caused by the violence and rioting in the country following the assassination of Ms Bhutto.