Pakistan cops arrest 2 “important” suspects in Benazir killing

Police in Pakistan arrested two “very important alleged terrorists” from Rawalpindi on Thursday morning for their alleged involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Benazir was assassinated in Rawalpindi on December 27. A British Scotland Yard team is assisting the Pakistani investigators to trace her killers.

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Benazir’s party rubbishes Scotland Yard report on cause of her death

Islamabad, Feb 8: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Friday rejected Scotland Yard’s findings that ex-premier Benazir Bhutto was killed by the force of a suicide bomb and not gunfire.

Soon after the assassination of Benazir, the Pakistan Government had also claimed that cause of Benazir’s death was not gunfire.

PPP spokeswoman Sherry Rehman said that the party was still looking into the findings of a Scotland Yard’s team, adding that the party was finding it difficult to accept the “findings on the cause of death”

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Scotland Yard's investigation credible: US

The United States has described the Scotland Yard's investigation into the killing of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto as "credible".

"Certainly, I understand that this is an emotional issue both for members of her family as well as many people in Pakistan who supported Benazir Bhutto. In terms of the investigation itself by the Scotland Yard, we view this as a credible investigation by independent outside experts," US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

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A sympathy wave for Benazir Bhutto's party: Myth or reality?

: In the wake of former premier Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, election talk has centred on a ‘sympathy wave’ at the ballot box for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

As politicians have sparred over and commentators tussled with the wave, number crunching and dispassionate electoral analysis has been pushed aside.

On the eve of Pakistan’s eighth general election, little light has been shed on the wave phenomenon. What constitutes a wave and will there be one? Does the wave even matter?

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International deals enabled Benazir’s return to Pak: Zardari

The Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said that his wife Benazir Bhutto had returned to Pakistan as a result of international agreements, but after her assassination, all agreements stand nullified.

Zardari told the Voice of America that he could not reveal the details of the agreements.

He said he was very upset with those who had brokered the agreements, as they were not supporting his appeal for a United Nations investigation into his wife’s murder.

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Benazir’s assassination has heightened hostility towards Pak Punjab

The death of former premier Benazir Bhutto, a native of Sindh province, has heightened hostility toward Punjab, Pakistan’s centre of power, the Los Angeles Times has said.

On the day Benazir died, Yousef Leghari watched his native Sindh province erupt.

For five days, people vented their rage by firing weapons, and setting fire to vehicles and buildings. Bhutto was Sindh's native daughter, and she had been assassinated.

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‘Benazir had cell numbers of her assassins’

Pakistani ex-premier Benazir Bhutto returned to Karachi on October 18 last year with the names and cell phone numbers of her possible assassins, she wrote in a book a few days before her assassination on December 27 in Rawalpindi.

Officials in Pakistan had told her that four suicide bomber had been sent by Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, Osama bin Laden's son Hamza, and two militant groups to assassinate her, Benazir wrote in “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West,” slated to be released worldwide on Tuesday.

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Zia-ul-Haq regretted sparing Benazir’s life: Book

General Zia-ul-Haq told one of Benazir Bhutto’s friends that sparing the former premier’s life was the gravest mistake of his life, according to the late Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief’s book released on Tuesday.

Benazir writes that although Zia had said this to a friend of hers, whom she does not identify, the message was meant for her.

Benazir’s book claims that Musharraf should be blamed for the rise of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), stating that he assured the group’s victory in Balochistan and the NWFP.

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Musharraf knew of specific threat to my life: Benazir’s book

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has written in her book that she was aware of suicide squads likely being sent from the North-West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas to try to assassinate her immediately on her return.
The book was released on Tuesday in New York, London and Islamabad.
The book “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West” was finished just two days before she was killed.
“I had actually received from a sympathetic Muslim foreign government, the names and cellphone numbers of designated assassins,” Bhutto wrote.
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Benazir's assassination case: Two accused admit guilt

: The two accused in the ex-premier Benazir Bhutto's assassination on December 27 on Wednesday confessed of committing the crime in the judicial court here.

The suspects - Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat - were produced before a Rawalpindi magistrate court.

Both the accused were then sent to Adiala Jail

Two other suspects, Aitizaz Shah and Sherzaman, who were arrested from Dera Ismael Khan, are already in the custody of Rawalpindi police.
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