Indian Express : Bhutto gets threat from female suicide squads

Bhutto gets threat from female suicide squads

Press Trust Of India | October 24, 2007

Karachi:: Benazir Bhuto on Tuesday received a new death threat that she could be targeted by female suicide squads, even as a top Pakistani official revealed there were apparently two suicide bombers behind last week’s attack.

Senator Farooq Naik, Bhutto’s lawyer, said he had received a two-page handwritten letter in Urdu language from an unidentified person threatening to kill her “by any means.” The writer claimed to be a friend of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and extremists in Pakistan, Naik told Dawn news channel, adding that the letter was purportedly written by the leader of the suicide squad.

The authenticity of the letter could not be confirmed, but Naik said the party was not taking it lightly. He said he asked the Chief Justice of Pakistan to get the Government to investigate the threat and protect her.

Sindh Governor Ishrat Ul-Ebad Khan, meanwhile, said the attack on Bhutto’s homecoming parade that killed 139 persons last week were the work of two suicide bombers.

The provincial Government is considering replacing the police officer heading the probe into Karachi blasts, officials said. The move comes after Bhutto said she had no confidence in the current chief, senior police officer Manzoor Mughal, whom she accuses of involvement in the torture of her husband.