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| Mehsud behind Benazir’s assassination: spokesman |
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Saturday, December 29, 2007
By Mobarik A Virk
ISLAMABAD: Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema on Friday said the suicide attacker, who blew himself up near the vehicle of Benazir Bhutto while she was leaving Liaquat Bagh after addressing a rally on Thursday, was an al-Qaeda operative belonging to Baitullah Mehsud’s group.
But at the same time he claimed that Bhutto did not die of the bullet fired by terrorists or shrapnel flying out when the suicide bomber blew himself up but of a wound caused when she hit her head on one of the levers of the ‘sunroof’ of the vehicle through which she had emerged to waive to the cheering supporters around her vehicle.
“When she came out of the venue of the rally, there was a large crowd of her supporters, chanting slogans and waiving flags on to her. She came out of the sunroof of the vehicle started waiving to the crowd.
“The suicide bomber was on the left side of the vehicle. When she was waiving three shots were fired. But none hit her. Then there was a blast as the suicide bomber exploded himself. With that pressure of the shockwave Benazir Bhutto fell down and tried to tug down into the vehicle. When she was tugging down and was thrown by the force of that shockwave of the explosion, unfortunately one of the levers on the left side of the sunroof hit her on her right side which caused a fracture in her skull and that caused her death,” Cheema explained.
“Since the suicide bomber was on to the left, the entire vehicle was damaged from the left side. There is no damage on the right side. If any bullet, any pallet or any splinter had hit Benazir Bhutto it should have hit her on the left side of her head,” he added.
The findings of the medical board and the doctors that had carried out her examination say that there was no projectile found inside her skull or inside her throat. So, let it be very clear that there was no bullet that hit Benazir Bhutto. There was no splinter or pallet that hit her,” he claimed.
He said that Bhutto was on the hit list of terrorists ever since she returned back come to Pakistan.
“She was on the hit list of al-Qaeda. We have intelligence intercepts indicating that al-Qaeda leader Baitullah Mehsud is behind her assassination. We just have an intelligence intercept that was recorded this morning in which Baitullah Mehsud congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act,” he said.
“We have irrefutable evidence that al-Qaeda, its network and its cohorts are trying to destabilise Pakistan which is in the forefront of war against terrorism. They are systematically targeting our state institutions in order to destabilise the country.
There have been two assassination attempts on the president, besides seven other assassination attempts that were foiled and aborted. Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz was targeted. Former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was targeted twice by the suicide bombers and army’s installations and commanders were attacked. There were suicide attacks close to the General Headquarters and next to the residence of the Chief of General Staff Committee, suicide bombers also attacked two buses of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), they also attacked a bus carrying children of the Air Force people at Karma. Now the same brand of terrorists had struck again,” he recalled.
He claimed that the attack on Bhutto on her homecoming was also made by the same brand of al-Qaeda and the Taliban terrorists led by Baitullah Mehsud.
“We would definitely hunt down perpetrators of these heinous and cowardly acts and their accomplices and bring them to justice sooner than later. At the same time we appeal for national unity and a national effort to eliminate proponents of death and destruction who are aiming to undermine the security of Pakistan,” he said.
The spokesman provided journalists transcript of the interception of Mehsud’s telephonic conversation with another person.
Following is transcript of the intercept recorded by the intelligence agencies on Friday morning, giving conversation of militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and another person:
Maulvi Sahab (unknown person): Assalam-o-Alaikum.
Amir Sahab (Baitullah Mahsud): Waalaikum Salam.
Maulvi Sahab: Amir Sahib how are you?
Amir Sahab: Its all right.
Maulvi Sahab: Congratulations. I just arrived in the night.
Amir Sahab: Congratulations to you as well. Were they our people?
Maulvi Sahab: They were ours there.
Amir Sahab: Who were there?
Maulvi Sahab: There was Saeed, the other was that of al-Badar’s Bilal and Ikramullah.
Amir Sahab: All three did this?
Maulvi Sahab: It was done by Ikramullah and Bilal.
Amir Sahab: Then thanks for the greetings.
Maulvi Sahab: Where are you? I want to meet you.
Amir Sahab: I am in Makeen (probably in South Waziristan). Come over. I am at Anwar Shah’s house.
Maulvi Sahab: All right. I am coming.
Amir Sahab: Do not inform at their homes for the time being (probably to inform the families of the two attackers).
Maulvi Sahab: All right.
Amir Sahab: Done a great job. They were brave boys who killed her.
Maulvi Sahab: ‘Maashaallah’ I will give you the details when I will come over.
Amir Sahab: I will wait for you. Congratulations. Once again congratulations.
Maulvi Sahab: Thank you for the greetings.
Amir Sahab: Any service (you need)?
Maulvi Sahab: Thank you very much.
Amir Sahab: Assalam-o-Alaikum!
Maulvi Sahab: Waalaikum as Salam!
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ISSN 1563-9479 
