Severely criticising the former government and the then President, Pervez Musharraf for purposely making lax security arrangements for the two-time premier Benazir Bhutto, Federal Interior Minister, Rehman Malik on Tuesday said that some militant factions and 'elements' of establishment were behind her assassination in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.

Giving a briefing on findings of investigation into Benazir Bhutto assassination to provincial legislators at the Sindh Assembly, he said al Qaeda, Taliban, local jihadi groups and some "elements" of the establishment were behind her killing on her return to country from nearly a decade of self-exile.

The Counter-Terrorism Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency has concluded the investigation report, according to him.

He accused al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Ramzi Yousuf, Khalid Sheikh and Baitullah Mehsud of planning and carrying out attacks on her.

He said five of the accused terrorists studied at Mulana Samiul Haq's Haqqania Madrasa in Akhora Khattak, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.

He said Pervez Musharraf also had a role in Benazir's killing, adding that he had deliberately denied VVIP security to her although the other two ex-premiers, Shaukat Aziz and Chaudhry Shujaat, provided with airtight security by the state.

He said he would not blame the chief of the Madrasa, Maulana Sami-Ul-Haq, for harbouring terrorists who also carried out preparations at his school to kill her.

He claimed the evidence through the investigation his government had extracted would be irrefutable in the court.

The year 2007, he added, was the worst year in the decade, which witnessed a skyrocketing surge in the incidents of violence with 42 suicide blasts.

During the same year, Lal Masjid incident also hit the country.

He said 27 different militant factions from six tribal agencies ganged up against Benazir Bhutto and finally killed her.

He told the legislators that the militants were primarily responsible for her killing.

Almost all of them had been killed subsequently in different incidents, including the US propelled drones strikes.

Citing the finding of the probe, he claimed former military chief Musharraf and militants in Fata had considered Benazir Bhutto a threat.

For not allowing doctors to conduct post-mortem of Benazir Bhutto after she had succumbed to fatal injuries, Malik held an unnamed police officer and the then administration responsible for that serious discrepancy in the investigation.

He said CPO Rawalpindi, Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shehzad were responsible for removing the evidence from the scene of killing.

He lauded the Ulema (religious scholars) for their efforts in scaling down the number of suicide blasts.

He said terrorists were using teenagers as human bombs to hit their enemy targets.

Their ages ranged between 12 years and 18 years in normal incidents.

He said every family in the tribal region had been coerced into handing over one child to militant factions.

He said after Karsaz bomb blasts, terrorists tried to launch such attacks on her in Swabi and Peshawar but stringent security measures thwarted their plans.

He also asked the provincial government to carry out investigation into Karsaz carnage to ascertain facts.

The federal government would assist provincial government in that regard, he added.

To a question, Malik said he had been assisting Benazir Bhutto in negotiations with PML-N and the then Musharraf-led government strictly in accordance with a role that Benazir had assigned to him.

After Benazir's return to Pakistan, he said his job was to co-ordinate with interior ministry for her security.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012

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