UN Report on Benazir Bhutto's Assassination

sob

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The UN Panel is headed by Ambassador of Chile to the UN, a country not known to be particularly close to either India or Pakistan. That alone makes the report very credible.
 

ajtr

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Cloaks and daggers



Sunday, April 18, 2010
Ghazi Salahuddin

That we live in treacherous times where, as the poet said, "ignorant armies clash by night" is again certified by the United Nations' commission's investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The 65-page report issued recently in New York has underlined the precarious state of affairs in Pakistan and could, in a weird sense, make us feel insecure about our future.

As The New York Times said in its issue of April 16, the report's "findings underscore the impunity with which political crimes are committed in Pakistan, a country whose short and turbulent history is punctuated by unexplained killings of prominent leaders".

Incidentally, the major event that took place on April15 was the passage of the 18th Amendment Bill through the Senate. The National Assembly had approved the 102-clause Bill last week, prompting national rejoicing in the belief that this had removed from the constitution distortions injected by our military rulers. In that sense, Senate's unanimous approval of the Bill was seen as another historic moment.

But there was this deadly eruption in Abbottabad and other Hazara towns as a side effect of the National Assembly's approval of changes in the constitution that included the renaming of the NWFP province as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The intensity of the protests was surprising and though there were indications that some groups and leaders were exploiting the situation, the anger that was demonstrated by the ordinary people seemed real. And it may not entirely be related to their desire to see Hazara as a separate province. Our people are becoming more and more inclined towards angry and violent protests and the reasons for their desperation are evident.

The paradox here is that the jubilation over the unanimous passage of the 18th Amendment and the fury of the Hazarawal are rooted in the same development. Take this as two sides of the same coin. But who wins the heads and who loses the tails? Or is it that some people always win and others always lose? In any case, this was the week that brought the issue of the creation of more provinces into sharp focus. Some politicians seem convinced that the demand of the people of Hazara will have to be met.

In any case, the political wrangles that this issue will generate are bound to be very disruptive. After all, there was no real campaign for carving Hazara out as a province until now. On the other hand, the Seraiki slogan has echoed for a long time. Karachi, with reference to its dominant political identity, is likely to aspire for the status of a separate province. In Balochistan, the two ethnic communities have their separate domains and the Baloch nationalists have virtually drawn the dividing line.

It was in this context that the myth of the Pandora's box was invoked in political statements and commentaries. However, every national predicament tends to unleash terrible things – and thoughts. Take, for instance, the UN report on Benazir's assassination. That it would raise some prickly questions was foretold when the initial date of is release on March 30 was delayed on the request of the Pakistani authorities. Another hint that it may be contentious was provided by the last-minute cancellation of a press conference to be held by our UN Ambassador Hussain Haroon in New York when the report was released.

We now have the entire text and a number of comments that also seek to camouflage some conspicuous remarks of the report. I found it interesting to go through comments made by various parties and individuals. One of the major headlines was that it has blamed the government of former president Pervez Musharraf for failing to provide adequate security to Benazir. It was easy to guess that this would lead to a fresh demand for Musharraf's trial by the Nawaz League.

President Asif Zardari has said that the report has endorsed the PPP's stance. It is reassuring that the report has dismissed conspiracy theories involving the president and this was further stressed in the news conference held at the UN headquarter. However, the security arrangements made by the party are found wanting. The Washington Post story said that the report "also provides a damning account of the role of Bhutto's political party...in providing backup security for her". It adds: "Many of those individuals are now in the government of Bhutto's husband, President Asif Ali Zardari, who was partly involved in overseeing his wife's security".

According to the Post, the report said "a police investigator deliberately sought to avoid solving the case out of fear of discovering the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies". The story carried by The Guardian, London, said: "The damning part of the report is the UN team's claim of a cover-up. It said it was 'mystified by the efforts of certain high-ranking Pakistani government authorities to obstruct access to military and intelligence sources'".

Irrespective of what the UN report contains – and it has some insinuations that would make us shudder with apprehensions about the validity of our democratic process – its release has revived memories of Benazir Bhutto. We are painfully reminded of what a great loss that assassination was. And the thought that it could and should have been prevented is almost unbearable. Naturally, the report's coverage has accompanied photographs and video footage of Benazir, including that last glimpse of a brilliant and charismatic leader of a country that has suffered so much distress and pain.

We also have to grieve about the inability of the UN report to answer the question of who killed Benazir or even to discover the precise cause of her death. This is how our political killings have been. Our history is punctuated with unsolved and unexplored tragedies. Indeed, Benazir's own brother was murdered when she was the prime minister.

But the UN report is very significant. It has provided some explanation of why so many of us have no trust in our institutions and why we have a political culture that thrives on conspiracy theories. But where do we go from here? A story by news agency Reuters, datelined Islamabad, has this intro: "Pakistan may be reluctant to thoroughly investigate former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination, as called for by a UN report for fear of antagonising its security establishment, analysts said on Friday".

Let me conclude with the last paragraph of The Guardian story: "The UN commission recommends reform of the police and the intelligence agencies. While every country needs a strong intelligence service, 'the autonomy, pervasive reach and clandestine role of intelligence agencies in Pakistani life underlie many of the problems, omissions and commissions set out in this report. The actions of politicised intelligence agencies undermine democratic governance'".
 

ajtr

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Ifs and buts



Sunday, April 18, 2010
Gibran Peshimam

There is something deeply troubling about the revival of the discourse surrounding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The United Nations Commission invited by the current government to probe the assassination, far from giving us any answers, did little but resurrect painful questions – ones that may never be answered, leaving us hungering more, for closure we will never get.

It is, however, not the efficacy of the commission that troubles me most; it is the generalised rhetoric surrounding the assassination. That Benazir wasn't protected and insulated enough.

If the security were better, she would still be alive, they say; if she hadn't stuck her head out of the sunroof, she would still be alive; if she had heeded the ISI's advice and not addressed the mammoth Liaquat Bagh gathering, she would still be alive. If her chief of security was more competent and got her vehicle out of the crowd, she would still be alive.

Perhaps.

In retrospect, everything always seems obvious – and it is also more agonising, more infuriating, when you begin to lose sight of extenuating factors and immerse yourself in that obviousness.

Yet, I am also inclined to believe that if she hadn't stuck her head out of the sunroof, hadn't addressed that mammoth rally at Liaquat Bagh, incidentally one of her finest public addresses, on the advice of agencies of questionable intent; if she hadn't immersed herself in the people, she wouldn't have been Benazir Bhutto.

You see, the politics of Benazir, like her father's, was populist – she and her father, unlike any leader of Pakistan, including Jinnah himself, drew their energy from crowds. There is a reason Benazir's speeches, no matter how awkward the Urdu, still had an energy that far outmatched speeches by fluent and more natural speakers of local languages, including the Sharif brothers.

The crowds powered the Bhuttos and the Bhuttos powered the crowds. It was a relationship that manifested a strange political creature called the Jiyala – faithful, blind and dedicated. I am yet to understand what fuels these creatures – because nothing and no one derives as much dedication from any section of our generally apathetic public – least of all a political leader. Political fidelity is not a Pakistani specialty.

It is something I witnessed firsthand when I travelled by road to Garhi Khuda Bux on the first death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto. Hundreds of thousands of supporters, of mourners flocked the Bhutto mausoleum from far and wide. On foot. By car. In buses. In rickshaws. On scooters and motorbikes. Families. Young. Old. All came without any call or arrangements by the leadership of the PPP. All came despite the very real threats of yet another attack.

Just like Benazir did.

You see, what the commission does not understand is that asking Benazir to step away from a crowd at that time was the equivalent of asking the armed forces to drop their weapons in the heat of battle.

On that fateful day of Dec 27, 2007, she raised her head from that sun roof on her own accord, as is testified by Naheed Khan. "Safdar [Abbasi], how about some naras," Benazir is reported to have said to the man sitting behind her in the Land Cruiser before standing up to wave to the massive and adoring crowd that had encircled her vehicle.

I am inclined to believe that she didn't have a choice but to stand up. She did it because of her political instinct; because of her populist genetics. She couldn't help it.

Just like she was warned of the threats upon her return to Pakistan, but return she did anyway. Just like she was warned against joining a rally of supporters upon her return to Pakistan, and just like she refused the offer to be transported by helicopter. Just like she continued her rallies and public appearances despite the twin blasts of Karsaz.

You see, Benazir had returned to a different Pakistan – a post-war-on-terrorism Pakistan. It is a Pakistan in which leaders are required to be smarter and more secure. It is a Pakistan where roads are closed sometimes for hours before a VVIP passes. It is a Pakistan where people are so thoroughly searched that they have just stopped attending public gatherings and addresses. A Pakistan where motorcades zooming by are the only real-life glimpse the masses get of a leader.

It is a country in which a roadside fruit vendor, fearing for lack of income for his already starved family, was beaten mercilessly, and had a motorcycle driven over him a number of times by law-enforcers, because he resisted moving his cart from the road where the Sindh Assembly speaker was to pass.

It is Pakistan the security state.

Leaders are now required to be at a distance from the public – but that just wasn't Benazir; it wasn't Z A. There were many reports of how the authorities were left pulling out their hair as Benazir constantly broke security protocols.

Yes, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. And we are no closer to figuring out the conspiracy, if there was one, even after the multi-million-dollar commission. I have read the commission report. It only takes me, and, I am sure, many other Pakistanis, back to the confusion and despair that had just begun to fade.

We may never know many things as they transpired on that fateful day – and, for some inexplicable reason, I do not think it is important any longer.

Amidst all the talk of how her security failed to keep her away from her people; her people away from her, there is one thing that I have come to realise.

If today, through some miracle, Benazir came back to life, she would, despite all these now-obvious analyses, stand up through the sunroof of her vehicle yet again.

And again. And again.
 

ajtr

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Musharraf may sue UN panel that looked into Bhutto murder: Aide

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf may sue members of the UN commission that probed the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto for holding him responsible for her killing, one of his aides has said.
"In the report, Musharraf has not been accused personally but it has been mentioned that his government failed to protect Benazir Bhutto," Chaudhry Fawad, a lawyer for Musharraf, told 'The News' daily.
During a news conference, a member of the UN commission mentioned Musharraf's name while responding to a question.
Fawad said Musharraf's legal team will seek an explanation from the UN commission whether its member intentionally named the former President or uttered his name unintentionally.
"If the UN commission member unintentionally mentioned the name of the former President, no action would be taken but if he did so intentionally the former President would move the International Court of Justice against the UN commission," Fawad said.
Musharraf -- who has been living abroad since April last year -- had received the UN panel's report and studied it, he said, adding the former President was consulting his lawyers in Pakistan and abroad in this regard.
The UN commission's report has indicted the previous regime led by Musharraf for failing to provide effective security to Bhutto despite numerous reports of threats to her life.
The report also found numerous faults with the investigation into Bhutto's assassination in a gun-and-suicide attack on December 27, 2007.
Musharraf's aides have passed the buck to the current authorities regarding the findings of the UN commission, saying its report is a serious indictment of the government while there are just "passing remarks" about Musharraf.
The former military ruler's spokesman Mohammad Ali Saif said the media is only highlighting mentions of Musharraf in the report for unknown reasons while the "main charges" have been levelled against the government.
 

nitesh

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Musharraf is showing what pakistani army is capable of running when under fire :)

http://tribune.com.pk/story/7539/musharraf-decides-to-seek-political-asylum-in-uk/

The fiormer President Pervez Musharraf will apply to the British government for political asylum after the unveiling of the UN commission report on Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

The ex-military strongman is understood to have decided to stay permanently in the United Kingdom. Friends close to Musharraf told Express from London that the retired general has handed over the affairs of his newly formed All Pakistan Muslim League to his spokesman Rashid Qureshi and Barrister Saif. He is consulting close friends and investors about selling his assets in Pakistan.
...
 

ajtr

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Musharraf is showing what pakistani army is capable of running when under fire :)

http://tribune.com.pk/story/7539/musharraf-decides-to-seek-political-asylum-in-uk/
Nitesh,
The problem with Musharraf was always his bluster. That is evident in his boor "in the line of fire " and his actions. Thus we had strategic brilliance like Kargil, media grandstanding that fell flat on its face as in Agra and switinching alliance with taliban with just phone call threat from usa and his banning of anti-india groups like L-e-t after operation parakram and now this.

Fat chance he is going to sue the UN! The UN investigation team will come out with why the said so and so, and rest assured, THAT is what musharaaf doesn't want.

Everyone knows who killed the benazir and why. Musharaff is just grandstanding. Unfortunately he shaves daily otherwise someone will point out "chor ki dadhi mein tinka".hence he is seeking political asylum now.
 

nandu

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Justice denied

''The ISI had a role in Benazir killing.''

The question who killed Benazir Bhutto is still unanswered long after her assassination in December 2007. There were no definitive answers from within Pakistan and the United Nations report, made after an investigation by a commission on the request of the Pakistan government, also has not provided any answer. But the commission has stated the possible motives for the assassination and has shed light on many circumstances that made it possible. Benazir had taken a strong position against terrorists. She wanted to improve Pakistan's relations with India. The forces in Pakistan which did not like her positions on these issues might have been behind the assassination. There is suspicion that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or the ISI might have had a hand. They are difficult to be confirmed.

But the commission has confirmed other facts and circumstances which are known. Benazir was not provided the level of security she needed in view of the seriousness of the threat to her life. The commission indicts the Musharraf government for it and has even named some officials for their lapses. The government, which had under US pressure entered into a deal with Benazir, not only failed in ensuring her protection but also tried to scuttle further investigations into the assassination. Taken together they show the dubious role of the Musharraf government in the series of incidents starting with the deal through her return to Pakistan to the assassination. The report points fingers, and shows the people who made it easy for the killers to act, though it does not name the killers. It has mentioned the decisive role of the army and the ISI in the affairs of Pakistan and has called for an investigation into charges that they were involved in Benazir's assassination.

There is an internal investigation still going on into Benazir's assassination in Pakistan. It can work on the information contained in the UN report and the findings it has made. But it is doubtful if it can reach any firm conclusions. The government has taken some action against lower level officials named in the report. But the big fish who actually planned the assassination and executed the plan are likely to remain outside the net even if the present or any future investigation is allowed to go through the motions. The value of the UN report is that it has given credibility to many suspicions surrounding the conspiracy, the assassination and its cover-up.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/64995/justice-denied.html
 

nandu

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US denies role in Benazir Bhutto's assassination

The US today dismissed as "false" and "outrageous" the allegations made by former Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief Hamid Gul that the United States government was involved in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Noting that Gul had "repeatedly asserted the outrageous and baseless claim" during appearances on two TV news channels, a spokesman for the US embassy said, "The US rejects this and other false allegations regularly made by Lt Gen (retired) Gul about its policies and activities."

The spokesman said that at the time of Bhutto's murder in December 2007, the US "swiftly and publicly condemned" the act and called for an independent investigation. "Despite the fact that Mr Gul gave no proof for his allegations against the United States, his statements were not challenged by any of the TV hosts who invited him to their programmes," the spokesman said.

"TV stations and the anchors have the same obligations as other journalists to present the public with balanced views, to question unsubstantiated allegations by guests and to reject incitement," he added.

Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities will probe six senior police officials who have been removed from active service after being named in the report of a UN panel that investigated the Bhutto assassination.

The Federal Investigation Agency will conduct the probe against Additional Inspector General of Police (CID) Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, Additional Inspector General of Police Saud Aziz, SSP (operations) Yasin Farooq, SSP (headquarters) Ishfaq Anwar, SSP (investigation) Khurram Shahzad and Haider Warriach, officials said. These officials were removed from active service and demoted to the rank of officers on special duty after the UN panel submitted its report on the facts and circumstances of Bhuttos assassination in December 2007.

Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi today accepted a plea by the FIA seeking 14 days to conduct a fresh probe against three persons in the light of the UN commissions report. The FIAs counsel said the agency needed more time to investigate Syed Gul, Gul Roze and Mohammad Sharif, who were exonerated in connection with a suicide attack in Kamra, to determine their alleged involvement in Bhuttos assassination.

The UN commissions report has indicted the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf for providing inadequate security to Bhutto. According to the report, security arrangements at the venue where Bhutto addressed a rally minutes before her death were also inadequate.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/us-denies-role-in-benazir-bhuttos-assassination-20577.php
 

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Benazir Commission UN Press Conference




 
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ajtr

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Govt plans to arrest Brig Ejaz




Monday, April 26, 2010

By Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: In a move apparently to divert attention from those from the PPP whose names have been mentioned in the UN Commission report on the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto, the government has decided to arrest the people who were nominated by Ms Bhutto herself as the 'would be culprits' if she was assassinated.

Sources told The News the government had decided to arrest some 'key suspects' nominated by Ms Bhutto in a letter after the Oct 18, 2008, twin-suicide attack on her soon after her arrival in Karachi after a prolonged self-imposed exile.

Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief, Brig (retd) Ejaz Shah, could be the first one to be arrested for questioning by the government. The former IB chief was not only nominated as the 'would be suspect' if she was assassinated, which eventually she was in the second shooting/suicide attack on her on December 27, 2008, but was also mentioned in the UN commission report.

It is widely believed that Ejaz Shah was a close aide of former president Pervez Musharraf, and executed his orders without any fear. The sources told 'The News' that now the government was awaiting the findings/recommendations of the inquiry committee, appointed to probe the fatal December 27, 2008 atatck.

The focus of this three-member committee is to find out and nominate as to who ordered washing of the crime scene, and who carried out the deed so quickly after the unfortunate incident, which according to investigators, including the members of the UN Commission, destroyed some vital evidence that could have helped determine the cause of the death and reach the culprits behind the gruesome attack.

The sources told 'The News' that the government was also considering 'questioning' the former ISI chief Gen (retd) Hameed Gul but would step short of arresting him. "He (Gen Hameed Gul) would be given every opportunity to prove his innocence before any final decision is taken to arrest him or not," the sources told The News.

The sources also indicated that if the awaited report indicated the involvement of former President Gen Pervez Musharraf, the former CM of Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim, and the former chief minister of the Punjab, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, the government will not hesitate in arresting all of them, including Musharraf through Interpol.

Some prominent legal and constitutional experts said the former president, if nominated by the three-member investigation committee, could be arrested and put on trial, and he would not be protected by any immunity that he had enjoyed as the former president of the country.

"The same would be applied to the former chief ministers of Sindh and the Punjab, and they could be arrested and put on trial," they said. Sources said the government had made up its mind to protect the PPP people mentioned in the UN report, and the report by the three-member body would be used to divert attention from some key members of the government, including the Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Federal Law Minister Babar Awan as well as the personal bodyguard of Ms Bhutto, Khalid Shahanshah, who was appointed by her spouse, now President Asif Ali Zardari, and was later assassinated in Karachi.

The sources said that a media campaign has already been launched by the government to protect these individuals and specific tasks have been given to the concerned ministry and quarters for the execution of the 'counter strategy' to release the pressure developed by the media after the UN Commission report was made public.
 

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