Daily Times : Musharraf’s close friend among three ‘plotters’ BB named

Musharraf’s close friend among three ‘plotters’ BB named

* Benazir says Muslim country warned government of suicide attack plot
* Says she trusts govt, but some elements within have links to jihadis

Daily Times Monitor | October 23, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has said that the three names she sent to President General Pervez Musharraf of people with powerful positions in government who she accused of plotting against her included a close friend of the president.

Asked in an interview on NBC Today whether it was not risky to name a close friend of the president as being someone who’s plotting against her, Ms Bhutto said: “Well, at that time I did not know whether there would be an assassination attempt that I would survive. And I wanted to leave on record the suspects. I also didn’t know that he was a friend of General Musharraf. But I asked myself that even if I knew that he was a friend and I thought of him as a suspect, would I have not written? No, I would have written.”

Warning came from Muslim country: Ms Bhutto said a Muslim country friendly to Pakistan gave information to the government and to General Musharraf which he shared with her about suicide bombers plotting an assassination attempt. She said that she knew an assassination attempt would be made against her and that people would be at risk.

“General Musharraf had asked me to delay my return to Pakistan. And he had very kindly shared with me information that he had received about four possible suicide squads being sent to kill me. But I felt that if I did not return then they would threaten me the next time and the next time. And that the objective was to stop the transition to democracy, not just my return on October 18. So, we took a lot of security precautions. And we were confident about the caution as much as a person can be.”

Asked whether she regretted coming back now seeing what had happened, Ms Bhutto replied in the negative. “The people who came knew that there would be a risk. They put their lives on the line. And I put my life on the line. And we did it because we believe in a cause. We want to save Pakistan. And we think saving Pakistan comes by saving democracy,” she said.

Recalling of the Karachi carnage, she said, “My memory was of the light and the dead bodies. Because when we were moving in the procession, the street lights had been shut. And all along I was very worried about the street lights shut. I knew my security wouldn’t be able to spot a suicide bomber with a heavy jacket or a car bomber coming toward us in the darkness. So, we kept trying to contact people in the government to get the street lights turned on.”

BB trusts govt, but not all within: Asked whether she trusted the government to conduct the investigation into the attack since she had demanded the involvement of foreign experts, the PPP chief said, “No, I trust the government. But I think that the international community has greater expertise. I also feel that there are elements within our administration who were associated with the past military dictatorship which had founded the Afghan mujahideen, and because of the friends of … the friendship or the bonds that grew up at that time, they might not be able to do such a thorough job. Or because of a lack of expertise they might not be able to such a thorough job. So, I would like to see an independent, credible investigation assisted by the international community with expertise in anti-terrorism so that we can get to the bottom of the militants.”

She said, “We don’t know whether the bomber came in the car or whether there were two different groups of bombers. But I have asked the government of Pakistan to hold an independent inquiry headed by a credible police officer and ask them to seek international assistance.”

Asked why she had returned to Pakistan, Ms Bhutto said: “Look into the eyes of the people who came to receive me at the airport — the joy, the happiness, the singing, the dancing, before the terrorists struck. They were celebrating my return because they want hope. If I didn’t come back, the 160 million of Pakistan won’t have hope of a future free from terrorism, a future where there will be democracy.

“The militants want an Islamist takeover of Pakistan. They have to be stopped. I have a choice - to keep silent and to allow the extremists to do what they are doing, or I have a choice to stand up and say, ‘This is wrong, and I’m going to try and save my country.’ And I’ve taken the second choice.”