Pakistan says al-Qaeda behind Benazir assassination

By IRNA

Islamabad : Pakistan on Friday blamed al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Pakistani militants for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.


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Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (Retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said that leader of Pakistani Taliban movement Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack.

“We have recorded a telephone call of Baitullah Mehsud in which he congratulated a cleric for killing Benazir Bhutto,” he told a news conference.

He said late Benazir was on the hit list of Al-Qaeda and she was receiving life threats from the same group since her arrival in Pakistan.

Cheema said, Baitullah Mehsud was also involved in suicide attack on Benazir in Karachi on October 18, which had killed around 140 people.

He said Benazir Bhutto was warned that she is under threats.

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