Former prime minister and chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condemned the brutal murder of the wife of tribal journalist Hayatullah and demanded a thorough probe into the matter and arrest of the culprits involved. The wife of Hayatullah was killed in a bomb attack on her house in Mir Ali in North Waziristan late last night.
In a statement on Sunday the former prime minister said that she was shocked and grieved to learn about the gruesome murder of the widow of a young and promising journalist who himself had been slain last year by unknown assailants.
Mrs Hayatullah had been vigorously pursuing the killers of her husband and had complained of receiving threatening calls warning her to refrain from chasing her husband's murderers.
Only an impartial and judicial probe can reveal the bloodstained hands behind the crime, Benazir said. The family members of tribal journalist Hayatullah Khan alleged that state agencies were involved in his murder.
She also prayed for eternal peace for the soul of Mrs Hayatullah and solace to the members of the bereaved family.
Meanwhile Benazir Bhutto has also condemned the disappearance of a journalist Shoaib Bhutta and demanded his early release. The family of Shoaib Bhutta has alleged that he was whisked away by some men in plain clothes from his office in Islamabad and taken to an unknown place.
The former prime minister said that the mysterious disappearances in the country had increased alarmingly and called for bringing the agencies under the ambit of law. She also called for the immediate release of Shoaib Bhutta.