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India-Pakistan

FIA seeks capital punishment in Benazir case, says ATC passed verdict 'in a hurry'

2017-09-30

[DAWN] The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday challenged the verdict of an anti-terrorism court in the Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... murder case, arguing that the two guilty coppers as well as the five men acquitted of all charges deserve capital punishment. Last month, ATC had announced the verdict in the murder case, acquitting five Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Pakistain (TTP) suspects ‐ Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Rashid Ahmed and Aitzaz Shah ‐ and announcing 17-year imprisonment for two former police officials. The court had also declared retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... an absconder in the case. The FIA moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the sentence through two separate petitions submitted on Friday. The first one argues that the two convicted culprits were not punished under the terrorism charges which were part of the case. The counsel for the agency also said that the ATC passed the verdict in a hurry without fulfilling legal requirements. According to the petition, filed in the Rawalpindi registry of the LHC, the two coppers ‐ former City Police Officer Saood Aziz and former Superintendent Police Khurrum Shahzad ‐ were sentenced under only two clauses each, whereas several other clauses, including terrorism, were also part of the case.

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India-Pakistan

Ex-ISI official refuses to testify in Benazir case

2015-06-03

[DAWN] RAWALPINDI: Former official of the Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI), a key witness in the case, on Monday refused to testify against the suspects of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) being tried in Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... murder case. Ex-telephone operator of the ISI excused himself from testifying before the court ,saying his life is in danger as he lives in Karak district which is close to tribal areas. Consequently, the anti-terrorism court (ATC) discarded his earlier statement which he recorded before the team investigating Benazir murder case. The former official had confirmed to the investigating team that he intercepted the communication between the suspects and TTP terrorists. Five suspects Aitzaz Shah, Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman and Abdul Rashid are facing trial in the case. Besides, former president retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , former CPO Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and former SP Khurram Shahzad were also accused in the case. Besides, refusal of former operator of ISI, another witness, Mark Seigel, could not testify before the court. The prosecution had informed the court that Seigel could record his statement through video link. The FIA prosecutor told the court that interior secretary was in contact with the Foreign Office and the officials of the Pakistain embassy in the US to contact Mr Seigal and arrange video link facility for him in the embassy.

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India-Pakistan

Two witnesses testify in Benazir murder case

2014-07-14

[DAWN] Two prosecution witnesses in Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... murder case testified before an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi on Saturday. Magistrates Ahmed Masood Janjua and Taufiq Chaudhry testified that they had recorded the confessional statements of Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid for their alleged involvement in the murder case. Magistrate Janjua informed the court that he had recorded the statement of Abdul Rashid who confessed to knowing and participating in the conspiracy to kill Ms Bhutto. Magistrate Chaudhry added that in their confessional statements Hussain and Gul had confessed to abetting suicide kaboomer Bilal who went kaboom! near the vehicle of Ms Bhutto. In the confessional statement, both the accused stated that they kept Bilal in a house near Liaquat Bagh where Ms Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007. Regarding the confessional statement of Aitzaz Shah, magistrate Chaudhry said the accused had admitted his involvement in the conspiracy to murder Ms Bhutto. Shah, according to the statement, was ready for the suicide attack on Ms Bhutto but at the eleventh hour he was told that Bilal had been tasked with attacking the PPP leader. So far, 19 prosecution witnesses have been examined in the case. The court adjourned further proceedings till July 19 when four more prosecution witnesses will testify.

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India-Pakistan

Benazir killed for backing Lal Masjid operation

2012-02-13

ISLAMABAD — Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed because she supported the Lal Masjid operation, an anti-terrorism court was told in Rawalpindi on Saturday. Magistrate Taufiq Ahmed, who had recorded confessional statements of accused Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Aitzaz Shah on February 13, 2008, said they told him that they wanted to kill only Benazir and because of the deaths of 23 other people in the attack, which they regretted, they would accept any punishment awarded to them. During the hearing of the Benazir assassination case in Adiala Jail, the magistrate read out the confessional statements before ATC Judge Shahid Rafique. According to the statements, the accused received Rs360,000 from Baitullah Mehsood while his associates, Abdullah alias Saddam and Qari Ismail, provided them two suicide bombers Saeed alias Bilal and Ikramullah. They purchased a pistol to be used by the suicide attacker because the plan was to kill Benazir near the stage during her rally in Liaqat Bagh on December 27, 2007. The accused, along with the suicide bomber, visited the venue on the night before the rally and took him to their residence in Quaid-i-Azam Colony in Rawalpindi. The accused brought the bomber to the venue early in the morning only to learn that because of tight security arrangements, it was difficult to get inside and near the stage. Then they deployed the bomber in front of the gate of Liaqat Bagh and another attacker Ikramullah at another exit point. After carrying out the crime, the accused reassembled near Fawara Chowk, Raja Bazar, and later went to their residence.

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India-Pakistan

Authenticity of evidence in BB case contested

2012-01-30

[Dawn] Hearing in the Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... liquidation case took an uncanny twist on Saturday when the defence counsel pointed out that the call data of the Zong cellular company provided by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was not admissible as evidence because the firm launched its business in Pakistain in 2008, whereas the tragedy occurred in 2007. Naseer Tanoli, counsel for accused Rafaqat Hussain and Husnain Gul, during a cross-examination of prosecution witness Ahmed Faisal, a manager at Zong, told anti-terrorism court judge Shahid Rafique in Adiala jail that the call data of his clients and Nasrullah, an aide to the late Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain leader Baitullah Mehsud, could not be linked with the liquidation because the cellular company did not exist in the country when the incident occurred on Dec 27, 2007. The FIA produced three more witnesses for cross-examination. Chaudhry Mohmmad Taufique, a judicial magistrate, who recorded confessional statements of the accused, told the court that Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Aitzaz Shah had confessed to their crime and signed their statements with their thumb impressions. The defence counsel did not cross-examine magistrate Taufique and the court, while giving them final opportunity for cross-examining, adjourned the hearing to Feb 4.

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India-Pakistan

Bhutto co-conspirator sez: "It was all about the Revenge™!"

2008-02-14

An Islamic militant who is accused of helping carry out the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto wanted to avenge the death of a friend in the military attack last year, a senior police officer said Wednesday. A statement that may very well contain some truth in it, but most certainly not the *whole* truth. Husnain Gul and his cousin, identified only as Rafaqat, were arrested last week in the Dec. 27 death of Bhutto. The senior policeman leading the murder investigation, Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, told reporters that Gul began preparing for the attack when his handler ordered him to go see Mahmoud the Martyrmaker and tell him "Big Tony would like a cannoli with extra mascarpone." in November. His friend had been killed in military operations against Islamic militants holed up inside Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in July. "Their motive for attacking Bhutto was that she was coming to Pakistan at the behest of a foreign power," Majeed said. "Ask anyone!" Majeed would not speculate on the mastermind of the assassination. U.S. and Pakistani officials suspect the attack was ordered by Baitullah Mehsud, an al-Qaida-linked extremist in northwest Pakistan. "See this little plastic ring sticking out of my back? If you pull on it, I say 'Dire Revengeￜ' in Urdu, Pashto, Arabic and Yorkshirese!" Four people, including a 15-year-old boy, have been arrested in the probe. Majeed said a fifth suspect is being sought but he refused to elaborate. "He was s'posed to call when he made it to the safe hou...er, I mean I can say no more!" Majeed said that Gul and his cousin told investigators details of the plot against Bhutto. Based on that testimony, Majeed said police have learned that two assailants were stationed by whom? at a pair of gates to the park where thousands of Bhutto supporters had gathered. Majeed said the two suicide bombers spent the night at Gul's home in Rawalpindi Listening to Malcolm X speeches and watching beheading videos on the eve of the attack. Gul also drove the two bombers to the public park where the attack occurred, Majeed said. The primary assailant was identified only as Saeed, who was using the alias Bilal. Majeed said Bilal opened fire with a pistol and then detonated explosives hidden beneath his clothing, fatally injuring Bhutto. The other assailant, identified only as Ikramullah, was to have attacked Bhutto if she had escaped the first blast. With the first bomb proving fatal, Ikramullah left Rawalpindi the next morning, Majeed said, without saying where. "Polly want a cracker?"

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