Karachi: Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malek told provincial Sindh assembly that investigators have traced all the people behind the killing of prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Malek also vowed to bring former military dictator Pervez Musharraf back home with the assistance of the Interpol to book him in the Bhutto's murder case.
The minister and the public prosecutor Khalid Quraishi gave the assembly the details of the plot to assassinate the former prime minister, which they claimed was the work of Al Qaida and the Taliban.
"Abu Ubaida Al Misri of Al Qaida hatched the conspiracy and Baitullah Mehsud got the plot executed through Haqqani network," Malek said.
Both Al Misri and Mehsud have been killed in American drone attacks in Pakistan's South Waziristan region that borders Afghanistan. The Haqqani network has been the most active militant group in Afghanistan.
Malek said that among the 16 people accused in the assassination of Bhutto are Musharraf and two senior police officer.
Musharraf was primarily accused of neglecting the security of Bhutto that resulted in her killing. Among the accused, five were arrested, three proclaimed as absconding and six killed during strikes by the security forces in Wazirstan or through drone attacks.
The interior minister also pointed out that the assassins stayed at a seminary, run by Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, the chief of the recently formed Defence of Pakistan Council. "I am not accusing the Maulana, but five militants stayed at the seminary and finalised the murder [Bhutto's] plan," Malek said.
The investigation was carried by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
There has been a huge controversy regarding the cause of Bhutto's death. Another autopsy could not be carried because of the controversies. However, the report claimed that Bhutto's death was caused by an object which hit her head and due to bullets.
‘This is all politics'
Musharraf went into self-exile in Britain in 2008 after being forced out of the presidency he secured in a 1999 military coup. The current government is being run by Musharraf's political rivals, and the president is Bhutto's widower.
Musharraf, who wants to return to Pakistan to take part in what will be bitterly contested elections likely this year, said the government was playing politics over the case. Musharraf has repeatedly denied any legal responsibility for the killing.
"This is all politics," he told ARY television station yesterday. "It's just point scoring and nothing else."
Legal expert Hashmat Habib said Interpol has the right to detain Musharraf and hand him over to Pakistan if it chooses to issue a warrant. But it is unclear how the international police organisation will respond, or indeed whether Malek will go ahead with his threat.
— With inputs from AP
