M A I N   N E W S

Musharraf named accused in Benazir murder
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Investigators have added the name of former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf to the list of accused in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. Federal Investigation Agency prosecutor Zulfiqar told a court in Rawalpindi on Monday that Musharraf's name has been included on the basis of statements by two senior police officials, who have been detained during the investigations.

Zulfiqar said Musharraf may be declared a proclaimed offender if he refused to join the investigation. The former president is living in self-exile in London and has publicly stated he would not answer any questionnaire sent by investigators because he had nothing to do with the murder.

President Asif Zardari’s father Hakim Alin Zardari had said last week that Musharraf had killed Benazir, adding that powerful forces were shielding him, an apparent reference to the military establishment.

Former Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz and another official Khurram Shahzad have indicated that they received instructions from Musharraf's office on various connected issues.

Aziz claimed that the order to change Benazir’s security in charge had been given by Musharraf. Aziz also stated that the scene of the assassination was immediately washed on Musharraf’s orders. The court accepted an interim chargesheet from the prosecution after the testimony of suspects Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad, and the evidence presented from the mobile phone records of the two.

The chief prosecutor has reportedly said that the phone records confirm contact between Musharraf and Aziz. He also said that the former President had been giving orders to them. Earlier, both officials had refused to provide the cell phones they had used on the day of Bhutto’s assassination.