PTI
London, Jan 11: Pakistan's powerful intelligence service, the ISI, is the 'number one accused' in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a senior Britain-based leader of her party has said.
"ISI is number one accused for the murder of Ms Bhutto, Pakistan's great leader," Amanullah Khan, a leader of the Pakistan People's Party, said here last night.
"Her assassination is calculated. Her killing is a fascist act and ISI and CIA should shoulder responsibility for her assassination," Khan said at a condolence meeting organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Third-World Solidarity at the Boothroyd Room of House of Commons.
He said Bhutto was longing to go back to Pakistan in her effort to restore democracy there but was 'deceived and stabbed in the back by ISI.'
Khalid Mahmood, a Labour MP, said Bhutto knew the threat to her life but the 'West cajoled and forced her to return to Pakistan.'
Lord Nazir Ahmad described Bhutto as a 'rare woman who lived and fought for democracy and died for democracy.'
He claimed President Pervez Musharraf 'is responsible for creating terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism in Pakistan and sooner we get rid of him is better for the country.'
Bhutto's friend at Oxford and journalist Victoria Schofield described the PPP leader as not only 'a charismatic politician, but a devoted mother and wife.'
Simon Hughes, President of the Liberal Democrats, said Bhutto was not only a leader of Pakistan but she was a leader of the world.
Echoing his words, Imam Sajid said the ex-premier was the 'moderate face of Pakistan' and 'a Muslim leader of the world.'
Martin Salter, MP, said Bhutto gave voice to women in Pakistan. "She was also the sole political leader uniting the four provinces of Pakistan."
Councillor Mushtaq Lasharie said Bhutto was symbol of hope, courage and liberalism but unfortunately 'she was followed by death from the moment she landed in Pakistan in last October.'
Prince Mohsin Ali Khan, a campaigner for South Asian unity, alleged that relations of Bhutto's slain brothers might also be behind the assassination. He said 'democracy can not be manufactured and planted and it takes time for democracy to take roots.'
The bullet that killed Benazir found
DNA
Islamabad: Preliminary investigations indicate that at least two extremist organisations pooled their resources to kill Benazir Bhutto – even conducting a series of rehearsals at the Rawalpindi murder site “with active collaboration of some powerful hidden hands in Islamabad”.
Investigators believe the December 27 attack was a sort of joint venture by a banned jehadi organisation, which provided suicide bombers, and a group based in South Waziristan, which provided the technology. Investigators have found a bullet hole in Benazir’s scarf. The bullet has been recovered from a nearby traffic signboard, close to Liaqatabad.
“The 7.63mm pistol found from the crime scene indicates that she was shot dead,” the investigation reports say.
Post-Benazir Postings: