Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former president and All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Chairman Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was the ‘real mastermind’ behind the murders of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her brother Mir Murtaza Bhutto.

In a video message, the former army chief levelled serious allegations on the PPP supremo. “The reason for Bhutto family’s destruction is Asif Ali Zardari,” he said and added, “He is the murderer of both Benazir and Murtaza.”

Urging the law enforcement agencies to immediately arrest Asif Zardari in both cases, Musharraf said that Zardari was the one who had benefited the most from former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. “Who had deployed Rehman Malik on Benazir Bhutto’s protocol on what expertise and experience?” he asked. “After the incident, why Rehman Malik fled the crime scene and went to Islamabad?” he questioned.

The former army chief further asked who had Khalid Shehenshah murdered. Not only that, Musharraf wondered, who had the person who gunned down Khalid Shehenshah assassinated as well.

General (r) Musharraf said that it should be investigated that who altered the bomb-proof vehicle’s body with a sunroof in it and who asked Benazir Bhutto to come out of that sunroof and waive. “Who had a sunroof made on a bombproof car? Who phoned Benazir and told her to come out of the vehicle?” he asked.

Later that phone in use of Benazir Bhutto was intentionally made lost to destroy the evidence. After two years of murder the phone was recovered and it had no traces in it, he said.

Musharraf alleged that Asif Zardari had murdered Benazir at the hands of Baitullah Mehsud. He further revealed that senior Afghan leaders were also involved in the murder as Zardari had contacts with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

There is another possibility that former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Afghanistan’s intelligence agency orchestrated this attack on Benazir Bhutto through Baitullah Mehsood, he further said.

“It was Baitullah Mehsood who organized attack on me. He was my enemy as well,” General (r) Musharraf said.

The former president said that Baitullah Mehsood was his enemy and so does Hamid Karzai. “At that time I don’t had such persons with me who could influence Karzai. But Zardari and another important personality had good relations with Karzai,” he added. General (r) Musharraf expressed his concerns that an anti-terrorism court (ATC) of Rawalpindi on August 31 exonerated the real culprits. He said that innocent officers – former Rawalpindi CPO Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad – were sentenced to 17 years in prison while five ‘terrorists’, who were under custody, were acquitted. “As far as myself is concerned, I was at loss due to the murder of Benazir Bhutto but Zardari took full benefit of it,” he said. “I was quiet when Zardari accused me of murdering Benazir,” he added. He expressed his hope that if genuine investigation may be conducted, it will reveal Zardari as murderer of Benazir Bhutto. General (r) Musharraf said that he is addressing to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Assefa and Bakhtawar in particular and people of Sindh province and every citizen of Pakistan in general who were aggrieved by the death of Benazir Bhutto. He said that his government was not responsible for provision of security to Benazir Bhutto. “Nevertheless, we provided foolproof security to her at the stage of the public meeting,” he said. The former president questioned why testimonies of the eyewitnesses like Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi were not recorded before the court. “Zardari for the first time pronounced me as murderer that is beyond my patience,” he said, and added said that the whole nation is bewildered by the judgment of ATC where two fine police officers have been sent to jail with 17-year imprisonment sentence while the real culprits have been freed.

Published in Daily Times, September 22^nd 2017.