Murders of Benazir, Murtaza: Musharraf describes Zardari as 'real' mastermind

Former president and Chairman All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is 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 against the PPP co-chairman. "The reason for Bhutto family's destruction is Asif Ali Zardari," he said and added: "he [Zardari] 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.
He further asked who was behind Khalid Shehenshah's murder. Not only that the person who gunned down Khalid Shehenshah was assassinated as well, he added. General Musharraf said that it should be investigated that who altered the bombproof vehicle's body with a sunroof in it and who asked Bhutto to come out of that sunroof and wave. "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 declared a lost item to destroy the evidence. After two years of murder, the phone was recovered but it had no traces in it. Musharraf alleged that Asif Zardari had murdered Benazir through Baitullah Mehsud. He further revealed that senior Afghan leaders were also involved in that murder as Zardari had close contacts with the then 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 organised attack me. He was my enemy," General Musharraf said. General Musharraf 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.
The former army chief expressed his worries 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 I 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 investigations may be conducted it will reveal Zardari as the murderer of the slain Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto. He said that he is addressing Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Assefa and Bakhtawar in particular, then 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 public meeting," he said. The former president questioned why testimonies of the eye-witnesses 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 that the whole nation is bewildered by the judgement of ATC where two fine police officers have been sent to jail with 17 years imprisonment sentence while the "real culprits" have been acquitted.
He said that Zardari is trying to divert public attention from him and to focus it on me. It is to mention here that Zardari on September 18 had filed appeals against the judgement of ATC at Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench where he sought death penalty for Musharraf alleging his role in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. On August 31, ATC had announced the verdict in the Benazir Bhutto murder case after nine years, and declared former president Musharraf absconder.
The court had directed to forfeit the property of Musharraf while it also sentenced former Rawalpindi CPO Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad to 17 years in prison, and fined them Rs 5 lac apiece. Furthermore, the court also released the other five suspects, who were nabbed in this case, over lack of evidence against them. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007 while Musharraf was president. She was killed after she addressed an election campaign rally in the city.
A trial of five suspects, who were arrested by police, started in February 2008 which was later handed over to FIA. The ATC had indicted former president Musharraf in the case in February 2011, and in August the same year he was declared a proclaimed offender. A separate case was filed against his continuous absence.