The security in-charge of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has said that had the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader not opened the sunroof of her bullet-proof vehicle to wave to party workers, her death on December 27, 2007 could have been avoided. Former SSP Major (retd) Imtiaz Hussain gave the statement during cross-examination by the defence lawyer in the special anti-terrorism court in Adiala Jail hearing the ex-premier’s murder case.His statement appears an about-turn from his previous stance when he had criticized the lack of security for Benazir at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, the venue of her rally at the day of her assassination. Meanwhile Another key witness in Benazir murder case retracted his earlier statement during cross examination before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). Earlier, witnesses like former director general National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) retired Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema and SSP Yasin Farooq had disowned the statements attributed to them by the prosecution. In an important meeting held at the interior minister’s residence on Nov 25, 2009, the FIA investigators reviewed the progress and asked the agencies concerned for apprehension of key suspect Ibadur Rehman from Khyber Agency. They were also given the go-ahead to visit Madressah Haqqania in Akora Khattak for adducing further evidence. Officers were also assigned to visit the UAE, Saudi Arabia and United States for obtaining evidence from key sources that could shed further light on the conspiracy. Within days of setting a clear direction for the investigators to move forward on the case, I was transferred from the FIA. The case is under trial and I will avoid drawing conclusions. The UN commission submitted its report in May 2010 and their conclusions and recommendations were commented upon by me as a professional in a confidential letter addressed to the then prime minister. The political and security establishment consigned those recommendations to the dustbin of history. Truth hopefully shall prevail eventually.
pk.shafaqna.com
