Naheed Khan, the political secretary to former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto, has said that her mentor never discussed any will with her in her lifetime, and that the will presented by Benazir’s husband Asif Ali Zardari before the world was “quite astonishing” for her.
She said that Benazir had “good relations” with her husband Zardari.
Naheed admitted of not being so close to Zardari because, she said, Zardari had the right to select his own team as he was the new party head.
One of the top advisers of Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said that the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto helped McCain win the Republican primary, since the people appreciated his knowledge and ability in talking about the killing.
In an interview with the Fortune magazine, Charles R Black Jr said that though unfortunate, Benazir’s assassination helped McCain win the Republican primary.
A lawyer in Islamabad has reportedly moved a court urging it to stop the sale of the book - “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West”, written by former premier Benazir Bhutto, for mentioning (in the book) that his client Qari Saifullah Akhtar was involved in the October 2007 Karachi bombings which claimedHashmat Habib, the lawyer, described the allegation as “baseless”.
Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the demand for a UN investigation in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto would unveil the hidden hands behind it. “The government is confident of its law-enforcement agencies. The reason for UN probe in Benazir assassination is to expose the hidden hands behind her murder, if there are any,”.
The Pakistan government has decided to name an airport and a hospital in Islamabad and a road in Rawalpindi after the country’s former premier and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
According to a statement issued by the prime minister’s secretariat, the Islamabad International Airport will now be called Benazir Bhutto International Airport, the Rawalpindi General Hospital (RGH) as Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Murree Road as Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Road.
After a recent biography of former Pakistan Premier Benazir Bhutto by Indian journalist Shyam Bhatia hit the stands last month, here is another in the making, and its author claims it to be ‘authentic’ as he possess hours of exclusive interview with her.
The hearing into the murder case of former premier Benazir Bhutto was yesterday adjourned till September 6. The Rawalpindi Police submitted a separate challan to the court against one of the accused Atizaz Shah who was declared juvenile in a medical report and arrested for his alleged involvement in assassination of former the premier.
A special ceremony was held last evening in France where Benazir Bhutto’s daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari received the award on her late mother’s behalf, reported the Daily Times.
The award is given to people who render laudable services to humanity and play an important role in strengthening of democratic norms.
Benazir Bhutto worked for international peace, democracy and liberty during her life, the report said and added that the award was bestowed on Benazir to acknowledge her services.
Islamabad - Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the United Nations has agreed to set up a commission to investigate last year's killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, news reports said Friday.
"The objectives for the commission are to identify the culprits, perpetrators, organizers and financiers of the assassination," he told reporters after meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York late Thursday.
Ban indicated that further consultations with Pakistan and other UN members were needed to determine the procedures and structure of the UN panel, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted Qureshi as saying.
If sources at the United Nations are to be believed, Pakistan government has assured the international body that it will provide all the money required for an investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The investigation could cost Pakistan more than 100 million US dollars (approx Rs 700 crore Pakistani rupees) and might take up to 14 months to complete.
A political leader in Pakistan, said to be belonging to a nationalist party, is learnt to have moved the country’s Supreme Court against the federal government’s move to go for UN probe and spending nearly Rs 700 crore rupees on the same. The petitioner, Watan Party’s Punjab president Hashim Shaukat Khan, contended that if the probe was conducted by the UN, people will lose confidence in the country’s investigating and legal institutions.
PML-Q president and former Pakistan premier, Ch Shujaat Hussain has said that the present PPP-led Government was no more following its slain leader Benazir Bhutto’s policy and vision. He said that had Benazir been alive today, the country would not be facing its current crises.
Shujaat said this while addressing his party workers in Lahore.
The bulletproof vehicle of former premier Benazir Bhutto has been parked in a careless fashion at the Police Headquarters at the risk of destruction of this vital evidence for investigation into her assassination.
Bhutto’s vehicle was parked under a tin shed, covered with tents in place of walls, the Daily Times reported.
The vehicle was directly exposed to harsh weather; monsoon rains dripping into it from sunroof and rusting its body.
Benazir Bhutto''s phone calls with President General Pervez Musharraf prior to her arrival in Pakistan, were taped by the US intelligence agencies, in a bid to "play under-the-table, cut-throat games more effectively”, reveals a new book.
Pulitzer Prize winning US journalist Ron Suskind says in his book, "The Way of the World" has fair portion of Musharraf-Bhutto conversations including Musharraf''s quote "You should understand something, your security is based on the state of our relationship".
The PPP has reportedly expressed grave concern over reports that President Pervez Musharraf had warned former PPP chairperson and prime minister Benazir Bhutto that her life in Pakistan would be in danger if she “did not extend political co-operation to him”.
Pulitzer Prize winning author Ron Suskind made the revelation in his recently published book ‘The Ways of the World’.
As a major surprise for the beleaguered Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto’s niece Fatima Bhutto has come out in his open support, saying that both PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif were enjoying power even without being a member of the National Assembly.
Fatima, who still strongly believes that Zardari was behind her father Murtaza Bhutto’s murder, further alleged that their coterie of advisers was also not elected to the National Assembly.
An American journalist has claimed that the Bush Administration abandoned former Pakistan Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan People''s Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto, which needed Washington the most to make her political comeback in Pakistan after more than eight years of self-imposed exile.
The probe into the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will cost the United Nations 40 million dollar and the world body would generate the amount through its own resources. The investigators and account authorities of the organisation have made the estimates, sources revealed.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked head of the UN Security and Under-Secretary General for Security and Safety Sir David Veness to dash to Islamabad to look into the security aspects in Pakistan.
Islamabad - It will be all praise for Benazir Bhutto as Pakistan Saturday reveres its former prime minister on the anniversary of her assassination while campaigning for a third term in office.
Tens of thousands of followers were to assemble in the small town of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in the southern province of Sindh where Bhutto lies in a family tomb.
She was killed along with three dozen other people in a suicide gun-and-bomb attack soon after she completed an election rally in the garrison town of Rawalpindi on December 27 last year.
The attack was blamed on Islamist militants plaguing Pakistan's ungoverned north-western tribal region near the Afghan border.
Ardent supporters of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which now heads the national government, were converging on Garhi Khuda Bakhsh from all over the country
- some walking hundreds of kilometres in honour of their slain leader.
Special trains are also being run to the town, where Bhutto's widower, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, will lead the mourning ceremonies at the weekend.
At least 50,000 people had arrived at the tomb by Friday afternoon and the numbers were expected to swell enormously through the day, PPP spokesman Jameel Soomro said.
Crowds of people chanted slogan "Bibi (Bhutto) is alive" on the arrival of every new caravan of mourners.
Authorities threw a security blanket over the area amid fears of violence during the mammoth commemoration. Thousands of police were deployed to provide security to high-profile participants, including Zardari's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will be among several parliamentarians attending the ceremonies.
More low-key ceremonies are also expected to take place at the site of Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi, where a group of PPP loyalists Friday were sitting next to huge portraits of the slain leader, surrounded by floral wreaths and earthen lamps.
"One year has passed but we come here every night to pay homage to her," a PPP activist, Aafaq Khan, said as he laid flowers at the site.
"We feel like orphans today. In her absence, we see devastation everywhere. She was not only a political leader but we regard her also as our spiritual leader," an aged party worker said with tears in his eyes.
Grand banners, party flags and posters of the world famous leader were displayed at the gates to the park where Bhutto made her last public speech.
"Life will go on even without you, but it will be very gloomy and restless," read one of the posters.
Meanwhile, Pakistan was issuing a commemorative 10-rupee coin and a postage stamp Saturday, which has been declared a national holiday in memory of the charismatic leader who became the first woman to reign over a Muslim nation.
The government has already renamed several towns, buildings and roads after Bhutto.
Dubbed the "Daughter of the East," Bhutto was granted a posthumous United Nations award for human rights earlier this month.
A spokesman of PPP-led Pakistani government and Information Minister Sherry Rehman told reporters in Nou Dero, home village of Bhutto, that the government was striving to accomplish the dream of slain leader to make Pakistan a welfare state.
Ahead of the first death anniversary of Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon has assured Pakistani people of his commitment to investigate the Bhutto's assassination case.
Ban ki-Moon issued a statement saying that a commission would be set up to investigate the murder of the former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto, The News reported.
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007, after addressing an election rally in a suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi.
UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said that Ban had assured the Pakistani people and government of his commitment to search for the truth and justice in Bhutto's assassination case.
Student Unions Ecstatic At lifting of ban
* Praise govt decision and distribute sweets amongst students
* Say decision will strengthen democracy in Pakistan, will usher in new leaders
* Want student elections as soon as possible
By Adnan Lodhi
LAHORE: Student unions distributed sweets amongst students on Saturday following the speech by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in which he announced lifting the ban on student unions in educational institutions.
Student leaders welcomed the restoration of student unions, saying it would promote leadership qualities on campuses.
Former Pakistani president Gen Ziaul Haq had banned student unions in educational institutions in 1984. Student politics in Pakistan has a history of mixed fortune. It also has a history of rich democratic tradition. Before Ziaul Haq banned student unions, their activities were conducted through regular annual elections in universities and colleges. Student parties that participated in these elections played an important role in looking after vital academic, cultural and political interests of students.
The National Students Federation (NSF), Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), Muslim Student Federation (MSF), Anjuman Talaba Islamia (ATI), People’s Students Federation (PSF), Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), Mustafvi Students Movement (MSM) and the recently formed Insaaf Students Federation are among political groups active in student politics in Punjab. Although there was a ban on them, elements belonging to these groups were active in various capacities in educational institutions.
People’s Student Federation (PSF): PSF workers at the Punjab University, Forman Christian College University, University of Engineering and Technology, MAO College and a few technical colleges in distributed sweets and shouted slogans in favour of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government.
Ali Ammar, Punjab PSF information secretary, said that credit went to the PPP government for restoring student unions. Students from across Pakistan had demanded a lifting of the ban, he added.
He said, “We had promised students that the ban will be lifted and now it has. PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will soon visit Lahore and the PSF will announce a special package for students.”
Muslim Students Federation (MSF): Hundreds of MSF workers celebrated in MAO College and distributed sweets amongst students.
Afzal Sultan Gujjar, MAO College MSF chairman, said that the decision was historical and important, as the country needed leaders. He said that the decision to lift the ban on student unions would strengthen democracy.
Sheikh Shahid Iqbal, MAO College MSF president, said that the role of student unions was very important in providing leaders to Pakistan. He said, “We struggled a lot for the restoration of unions and many workers sacrificed their lives for this moment.”
Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT): IJT workers distributed sweets amongst Punjab University students at the hostels.
IJT Nazim Attiqur Rehman said that dictatorship on campuses was over and students would take charge and improve their lives. He said that the IJT would celebrate the decision across the country from tomorrow (Sunday) to April 5.
Imamia Students Organisation (ISO): ISO workers praised the prime minister’s decision and distributed sweets at the Punjab University and University of Engineering and Technology hostels.
Pakistan ISO President Arif Hussain Qambri said that the organisation praised the decision and realised that now it was the responsibility of students to gather on one platform and work for each other’s welfare. He said student unions would set educational goals and abstain from getting embroiled in politics.
Students Action Committee (SAC): SAC, a body of students working for the restoration of the judiciary, also praised the prime minister’s decision.
Haleema, SAC communication adviser, said, “SAC members are spread across 21 universities in the city and each one of them has praised PM Gillani. We have always demanded restoring student unions and have been forcing students to work for Pakistan’s welfare.”
Muttahida Talaba Mahaz (MTM): MTM President Raheel Shah said that the decision to lift the ban on student unions was commendable. “The prime minister has provided us with the opportunity to grow in a democratic environment. We have called an MTM meeting for next week and have invited representatives of all student unions. We will formulate a policy and schedule for student elections and will make sure everyone works together.”
Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUSA): FAPUASA President Dr Mumtaz Ahmed Salik praised the decision, saying that the entire teaching community was happy. “Dictatorship tendencies in educational institutions are over forever. The government should announce the schedule for student elections. We oppose the policies of the Higher Education Commission in institutions and demand the prime minister restore employees who were fired after being implicated in plagiarism cases.”
On the eve of her first death anniversary, the sale of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's portraits and pictures, touched a record high.
The Rawalpindi city is flooded with the stalls selling Bhutto's pictures, however, the largest collection of Benazir Bhutto's pictures was available near Liaquat Bagh, where she was assassinated on December 27, 2007, The News reported.
Bhutto has acquired the status of `heroine of democracy' in the Pakistan post her assassination.
"We can never forget our great leader who sacrificed her life for democracy," Yousaf Ali, a local visiting one of the stalls expressed his sentiments.
Another such purchaser was Saheen Khan who said, "I have a large collection of Benazir Bhutto's pictures, which I have displayed in my house."
Some of these picture stalls also put Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's pictures on display.
"I have been selling the photographs of Benazir Bhutto soon after her assassination and I will continue selling these for the rest of my life to pay homage to our great leader," an emotional stall owner, Ikram said.
Fears are being expressed that Pakistan's former premier Benazir Bhutto's murder would always remain under wraps, as people privy to the proceedings and progress in the investigations say that unravelling of the mystery shrouding the crime could lead to startling revelations, if ever made public, with serious political implications.
The chances of Benazir's assassination remaining unresolved, like other high-profile murder cases in the country's chequered history, appears to be high, The News reported.
"Some of the leads that we have obtained from the entangled evidence, both physical as well as circumstantial, guide us to certain personalities but any disclosures at this stage might cause extremely serious repercussions," said one member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).
"There is no doubt that we are in possession of highly sensitive information that our investigations have led us to and we have reason to believe that any premature exposure of this information would open up a Pandora's Box that would be difficult to handle."
"However, I would say that there have been stages in the course of the investigation, where we felt it was almost impossible to proceed any further," The News quoted the source, as saying.
Certain points have already been widely discussed in the public, and one of these is the `elimination' of two very important persons whose statements would have been extremely useful for the investigators.
One is the death of Nahid Bhutto, a cousin of the late Benazir Bhutto, in a road accident near Hyderabad on her way to Karachi from Naudero, less than a week after the tragic assassination of the then-PPP chairperson.
Insiders claim while cousin Nahid Bhutto was busy talking to somebody in Australia over telephone from the Naudero house in Larkana after the burial of Benazir Bhutto, she is believed to have touched upon something sensitive, overheard by somebody present there but without her knowledge.
As soon as she realised the presence of the other person, Nahid quickly wrapped up her conversation, saying she would discuss the matter on her arrival in Karachi the next day. She never arrived as intended.
A second hurdle to the probe is the assassination of Khalid Shehanshah, the personal bodyguard of Bhutto and a key eyewitness to the tragedy.
He stayed close to Bhutto wherever she went after her return and was always in the back of the vehicle that Bhutto rode during her election campaign. It will be instructive to recall that his behaviour on the stage the day Bhutto delivered her last speech at Liaquat Bagh had been questioned but the issue was tactfully hushed up.
The investigators believe that he was in the know of important facts concerning the assassination of the 54-year-old leader. His murder was part of a larger scheme to silence anybody who could become a source of vital information that would help resolve the mystery shrouding the assassination, the paper said.
What exactly he knew and why he was eliminated are the questions agitating the minds of people. Some are trying to divert attention from his killing by saying he had connections with the underworld dons, who might have orchestrated his murder.
Another very interesting aspect that surfaced during the investigations by The News was the late-night meeting of the head of an intelligence agency with Bhutto. Reliable sources said the gentleman came to meet Bhutto at around 1:30 am on the night of December 26, 2007 (early hours of Dec 27) and went straight into the meeting, also attended by Rehman Malik, then security adviser to the former premier.
One source privy to the discussions claimed the spy chief categorically told Bhutto not to go to Liaquat Bagh to address the rally. He said credible information had been received that there would be an assassination attempt on her life during the public meeting.
Now that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is in power, it is intriguing why the government has not made any effort to reinvestigate the case. The government did promise that a UN probe into Benazir's death would be initiated, but there has since been complete silence on the part of the PPP government, baffling many
Pakistan's main opposition parties have said that the death of former premier Benazir Bhutto is an irreparable loss for the country.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif said Benazir spent her life struggling to turn Pakistan into a real democracy.
In a statement on her first death anniversary, Sharif said they had signed the Charter of Democracy to bring real democracy in the country, adding December 27 called for implementation of the charter and expediting the struggle for restoring real parliamentary system in the country.
He said genuine democracy would have been restored in Pakistan if Benazir was alive.
However, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid president Shujaat Hussain said despite having political differences with the PPP's former chairwoman, he saw Benazir's death not only as loss for the people of Pakistan.
He said the country was passing through a very critical situation and all the political forces should put aside their egos and combat it together.
Shujaat told reporters "the two biggest parties are in power and they should take the initiative to start dialogue with other parties on all national issues especially the present situation".
He said he was very surprised that one party was part of the government and the opposition simultaneously, adding it should decide whether it was with the opposition or the government.
To a question, he said the current situation demanded unity among the political forces in the country. Shujaat said his doors were always open for dialogue but the other parties' response was not as positive.
The Jamhoori Watan Party chief, Talal Bugti has demanded Musharraf's arrest, so that the killers of his father, Akbar Bugti and the former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto, could be exposed.
Bugti said that he does not support the separatism and the movement of militancy, which started due to the policies of former President General Pervez Musharraf.
He also accused Musharraf for dividing Pakistan and bombing Balochistan with tanks and missiles.
He said the people of Balochistan were patriots, and his party's manifesto was that the Baloch people should control Baloch resources.
Earlier, Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif had asked the government to set up a commission to investigate Baloch nationalist leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti's murder case.
Nawaz demanded Bugti's killing be investigated after his meeting with Jamhoori Watan Party chief, Talal Akbar Bugti.
The PML-N chief also said that the former President Pervez Musharraf had committed injustices against the people of Balochistan.
Islamabad - A rap song written by the elder daughter of Pakistan's slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in which she pours out her grief, is making waves on video sharing website YouTube and in the international media, but hardly impresses at home.
"I Would Take the Pain Away" is the chorus Bakhtawar, 18, raps in English - a language understood only by Pakistan's small elite class.
As world shares the novice rapper's sorrow, the majority of Pakistanis are surprised by the teenager's atypical tribute to her mother. For the vast rural population steeped in Islamic religion, rap is something completely foreign.
"Anguish filled everyone's heart following Benazir's assassination, but a rap song to commemorate the tragedy is something unforeseen," said Abdul Majeed, as he scooped gravy at a roadside eatery in Islamabad. His reaction is probably typical for most Pakistanis.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is said to have released the song with an accompanying video to a newly-launched private television channel on the eve of the first anniversary of her assassination in a bomb-and-gun attack on December 27, 2007, at an election rally in Rawalpindi.
Film footage and still images traces Bhutto's last days as Bakhtawar tries to express her great loss and that of her siblings - Bilawal,
20, and Aseefa, 14.
The song was later posted on the video-sharing website YouTube and also repeatedly played on state-run Pakistan Television
(PTV).
The fact that Bakhtawar's father, Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari, is now the country's president with the PPP leading a coalition government aroused a controversy over the song's airtime on PTV.
"Using the state media to air a personal tribute is utterly disputable," said Mohammad Farooq, a shopkeeper.
Still many believe the matter should not be adjudged in terms of politics.
"These are sincere words coming from a mourning daughter, who lost her parent to terrorism," computer engineer Salman Ahmed said.
Bakhtawar used "crazy courage" and "epitome of benevolence" as metaphors to recall Bhutto's return from eight years of self-exile to contest the elections, termed the final phase of transition to democracy by the then president, retired general Pervez Musharraf.
"My mother was murdered. I don't even comprehend. Was it worth dying for? I'm walking through screened doors," Bakthawar, a student at Britain's Edinburgh University, laments.
"No comfort or ease. I'm begging you please, God bless the deceased," she sings.
The teenager's first music production, which has been viewed by more than 50,000 people, attracted attention from international media, with dozens of reviews appearing this week.
"While Bakhtawar's dirge-like rap is unlikely to secure her a Grammy of her own, the seemingly heartfelt tribute might win her some fans," wrote British daily The Independent.
According to the newspaper, Bakhtawar is a keen music fan and was apparently encouraged to sing by her mother. She once asked a journalist friend in the US to introduce her to Grammy Award-winning rapper and music producer Puff Daddy.
"The tribute is sweet. But this girl isn't street," wrote a blogger, commenting on the teenager's efforts.
Pakistan's Minister for Information Sherry Rehman, who remained close to Bhutto until her death, said music was Bakhtawar's pastime but not a prospective career.
The assassins of the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto would soon be behind the bars, if Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Hussain Abdullah Haroon is to be believed.
Addressing the members of the Sindh Assembly here, Haroon said: "The nation would hear positive news regarding the probe into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto soon."
He said that top investigators from the UN would be visiting Pakistan in connection with the probe.
"Two UN missions would visit Pakistan, first to assess security situation and then for fact finding," The Nation quoted Haroon, as saying.
He added that the involvement of the UN would ensure that the probe is independent and its outcome is credible so that it can not be challenged.
The Pakistani authorities will takeover from the UN investigators once it is clear that who all were behind the attack on the former Prime Minister.
"The follow up procedure including arrest of the responsible would be carried out by Pakistani authorities" Haroon said.
He also made it clear that the whole probe will be cost the national exchequer about five million dollars, and not 100 million dollars as claimed by the media earlier.
Benazir Bhutto was killed in an attack while leaving a campaign rally for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is expected to announce a commission to investigate the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when he visits Islamabad on February 4.
"Secretary General Moon would announce the commission during his forthcoming visit to Pakistan," the Dawn quoted a senior diplomatic source, as saying.
The UN had few weeks back proposed to Pakistan the terms of reference for instituting an independent inquiry commission into the circumstance of the killing of Bhutto.
Foreign Office Spokesman Muhammad Sadiq had earlier said that the UN was in an advanced stage of instituting the inquiry.
Pakistan had in June 2008 requested for the probe calling upon the UN to constitute a commission to expose through independent and impartial investigations the culprits, perpetrators, financiers and mastermind behind the December 27 assassination of former Prime Minister Bhutto after a political rally in Rawalpindi.
The Pakistan Government said that it was seeking an international probe because it suspected an international conspiracy behind the assassination of the PPP leader.
It further said that investigating an international conspiracy was beyond the capacity of the local investigators.
Later in July 2008, Foreign Minister Qureshi visited UN Headquarters to discuss with the Secretary General Moon Pakistan's request for the investigation.
On that occasion a broad understanding was reached on such issues as the nature of the Commission, funding modalities, composition, unhindered access to all sources of relevant information, and elements to safeguard its objectivity, impartiality and independence.
However, discussions within the UN and between UN and Pakistan government continued examining other modalities and the Commission''s structure, including the scope and mandate.
Rescue workers and relatives gathered next to bodies of the police officers who died in the attack in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A coordinated, commando-style ambush on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan on Tuesday revealed embarrassing security gaps in an increasingly unstable country.
With eight dead in Lahore, not even cricket, a cherished national pasttime, seemed secure after 12 gunmen carrying sacks of weapons attacked a bus bearing the Sri Lankan team and then escaped in motorized rickshaws. A video of the attacks was broadcast around the world, destabilizing images for a nation under siege from an insurgency by Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Most major cricket teams already refuse to risk playing in Pakistan, ever more isolated from the rest of the world.
“This happened in the heart of Lahore, the cultural capital of the country,” said Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, a former interior minister and a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party of President Asif Ali Zardari. “None of the attackers were shot or caught, and they were coming to the scene with big bags. That’s absurd.”
Mr. Sherpao called the attack a “total security lapse.”
The police said the gunmen — using assault rifles, grenades and even antitank missiles — assaulted the bus with the Sri Lankan team at a grassy traffic circle near the city’s main Qaddafi Stadium during a five day-match. Six police officers in an escort van were killed, and six cricketers were injured, the police said. Two bystanders were also killed.
The operation bore some similarity to the attack in November in Mumbai, India, in which 10 militants attacked hotels and other targets over three days, killing 163 people, security officials said.
In Lahore, the attackers also appeared to be in their early 20s. They wore sneakers and loose pants and carried backpacks loaded with weapons and high-energy snacks of dried fruit and chocolate, all characteristics of the Mumbai gunmen. The gunmen in Lahore walked casually as they fired, a stance that appeared to be part of the training of the attackers in Mumbai, security experts said.
The Sri Lankan team, including those who had been injured, arrived back in the capital, Colombo, on Wednesday morning. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
President Zardari met with the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani hours after the attack to discuss Pakistan’s security situation, according to a statement by the president’s office.
The senior official at the Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, who is close to President Zardari, said: “We suspect a foreign hand behind this incident. The democracy of the country has been undermined, and foreigners are repeatedly attacked to harm the country’s image.”
American counterterrorism officials said that it was too early to determine which group was behind Tuesday’s attack, but that the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba were possible suspects. One South Asia specialist also raised the possibility that Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka might have asked Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Pakistan to attack the cricket team. If true, this would be an ominous sign of collaboration between regional terrorist groups.
American experts voiced concern that such attacks might be the new terrorist strike of choice instead of suicide bombings. “It’s likely there will be more of these kind of attacks, which are much more difficult to defend against,” said Juan Zarate, the White House’s top counterterrorism official under President George W. Bush. “Mumbai has become a terrorist exemplar.”
The attack, which began at 9 a.m. Tuesday, appeared to have been well planned. Because it occurred on the third day of the cricketers’ match, the assailants had time to carry out reconnaissance on the previous mornings.
The driver of the cricketers’ bus, Mohammad Khalil, described how a white car had swerved in front of the bus, forcing him to slow. Television images showed gunmen emerging from the large grassy traffic circle and shooting at the bus from crouched positions.
According to an account on a cricket Web site, cricinfo.com, the players ducked to the floor of the bus and shouted at the driver to speed ahead. Mr. Khalil drove through the gunshots and whisked them to the stadium.
Later, the Lahore police said they had found weapons stashes near the scene and at various points around the city, including 10 rifles, two rocket launchers, a 9-millimeter pistol and detonator cable.
Mr. Sherpao, the former interior minister, contended that it had been possible for the attack to take place because the top echelon of police officials in Lahore had been changed in the last few days.
The changes in police personnel had been ordered by the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who is now overseeing the province by executive order at the behest of President Zardari, Mr. Sherpao said.
Mr. Sherpao alleged that the new team of police officials was more concerned with security at political rallies staged by Nawaz Sharif, the opposition leader. “The security team was marginalized,” Mr. Sherpao said.
Late Tuesday night, Mr. Taseer acknowledged that the top police officials had been changed, but the home secretary, responsible for security in the province, had remained in office.
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Wednesday on a previously planned trip. The F.B.I. offered to help in the investigation in Lahore, but had been told by the Pakistani government that its help was not needed, a senior bureau official said.
The wounded cricketers received treatment at a Lahore hospital. Two players were treated for bullet wounds, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission said. The team flew home on Tuesday night.
The Sri Lankan team had been particularly welcomed because it had agreed to play in Pakistan after other major world teams had refused to come, citing Pakistan’s poor security. Last year, the Australian, British and South African cricket teams said they would not take part in the Champions Trophy, a major world cricket event scheduled in Pakistan.
After the Mumbai attack, the Indian team refused to come for matches planned in 2009.
The series with Sri Lanka represented a sort of coming out for Paksitani fans starved of first-class cricket at home.
Cricket is as important to the sports psyche in Pakistan as baseball is in the United States. The matches with Sri Lanka were the first international cricket contests in Pakistan in 14 months.
To persuade the Sri Lankans to visit, the Pakistanis offered presidential-style security, Pakistani television reported.
But to show that the Sri Lankan cricket team did not receive the security it had asked for, the Dawn television channel on Tuesday night showed the elaborate motorcades with bulletproof vehicles traveling at high speed with flashing lights used by senior Pakistani officials.
In contrast, the television report showed bullet holes in the windows of the cricketers’ bus.
Pakistan is scheduled to host the World Cup cricket tournament in 2011. “How do you expect a foreign team to come to Pakistan now?” said Wasim Akram, a former captain of the Pakistan cricket team.
Islamabad, Feb 2 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government would this week discuss with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon its progress in requesting the United Nations to probe former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination.
"Very soon we are evolving a strategy for that," Gilani replied, when asked whether his government would convey its request for a probe to the UN Secretary General, who is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Wednesday.
Gilani said that his government wanted a probe by the United Nations because it did not want the investigations to be "prejudiced and politicised."
After Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and suicide bomb attack during an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, Pakistan asked the UN to establish a commission to investigate the killing, The News reported.
Last December, a spokesman for Ban said the UN leader hoped such a commission could be established soon but that further consultation with Pakistan "was needed to examine the commission''s structure, including its scope and mandate."
The Pakistani Government has accused Tehrik-i-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud of plotting Bhutto's murder, a charge he denies.
UN's Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that an independent three-member committee would be established to investigate Bhutto's assassination, on December 27,
2007.
"I intend to establish an independent commission of inquiry to be headed by a distinguished person who will be appointed very shortly," The Daily Times quoted Ban Ki-Moon, as saying here.
Pakistan Presidency spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that an outline for the commission is being prepared.
He said that Pakistan would provide the seed money for the probe, and the rest of the finance would be provided by other countries.
Babar also said that people of Pakistan have very high hopes from the UN to bring the murderers of Benazir Bhutto to light and prosecute them under the law.
"The people of Pakistan hope that this commission will determine the facts and circumstances of assassination of the former Prime Minister, and that the findings of the commission will lead to eventually exposing the financers, perpetrators, organisers, sponsors and conspirators of the terrorist act and bring them to justice," he said.
New York - A commission to investigate the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is limited to just six months and cannot carry out criminal proceedings, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday in a letter to the UN Security Council.
"The duty of determining criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of the assassination would remain with the Pakistani authorities," the letter said.
Ban said he will name three impartial people to probe Bhutto's death on December 27, 2007, during her campaign to regain leadership in the Pakistani government.
The commission's duties are to determine the "facts and circumstances" of the murder.
The commission is to receive full cooperation from the Pakistani government, freedom of movement throughout the country as well as transportation.
It has to submit a report to the Pakistani government and Ban within six months. The letter made no mention of any legal steps once the report is handed in.
This is unlike the much publicized international investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005 in Beirut. The Security Council has approved the establishment of a tribunal at The Hague to try suspects, beginning in March.
Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has claimed that he has details of a 13-point agreement between Benazir Bhutto and former President Pervez Musharraf.
Talking to a private TV channel, the former minister said one of the points was a proposal by the former PPP chairwoman, which asked Musharraf to restore sacked Chief Justice Ifitkhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Musharraf and Benazir had reached an agreement in July 2007, according to which he as civilian President, would deal with national security and foreign affairs, while Bhutto as Prime Minister, would act as the chief executive and exercise the remainder of the powers, said Asia Times.
The paper, a Hong Kong based publication said that it was also agreed that a ban on serving three consecutive terms as Prime Minister would be lifted and Bhutto will face no legal action on her return to Pakistan.
Both the UK and the US are said to have played a key role in having these understandings reached, the paper claimed.
Meanwhile, Senator Nabeel Gabool of Pakistan People''s Party (PPP) said Bhutto had also agreed to provide "safe passage" to Musharraf after his exit from power.
He said Musharraf was asking for safe-passage from Bhutto through the dialogue.
He said that in 1971, General Yahya Khan had also asked Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to take over power and give him safe passage and now the present rulers are facing the same situation.
Posts
All Comments
