ISLAMABAD: The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had planned another suicide attack on slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto had she survived the Liaquat Bagh attack on Dec 27, 2007.

Reading the confessional statements of the accused persons, the prosecution in the murder case on Friday revealed before the anti-terrorism court (ATC) that the TTP had selected one of the suspected terrorists to carry out another suicide attack on the former prime minister.

Special Prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz read out the confessional statements of four accused before ATC Judge Asghar Ali Khan.

Prosecutor says the banned outfit was ready to target Benazir had she survived the attack in Liaquat Bagh

In 2013, the four accused - Aitzaz Shah, Rafaqat Hussain, Hasnain Gul and Abdul Rasheed – had confessed to their involvement in the murder before a magistrate.

The prosecutor said Baitullah Mehsud had paid Rs400,000 to Qari Ismail who subsequently dispatched a group of suicide bombers and shooters to Rawalpindi to assassinate Bhutto.

As per the assassination plan, Saeed alias Bilal was to carry out the suicide attack in case he failed to shoot down Bhutto while Ikramullah was to detonate himself if Saeed failed.

Both Saeed and Ikramullah were provided logistics by Hasnain Gul. The logistics included an explosive-laden suicide jacket, a pistol and an optical device.

Reading the confessional statement of Aitzaz, prosecutor Imtiaz said he was asked to attack the PPP leader in case Saeed failed.

Mr Imtiaz said the TTP had targeted Bhutto at Karsaz in Karachi soon after her arrival from abroad on Oct 18, 2007. In that attack, she survived but the bombings killed 149 people and injured 402 others.

The prosecutor produced before the ATC judge the text of Baitullah Mehsud’s conversation with Maulvi Azizullah in which the former is congratulating him for carrying out the successful attack on the PPP chairperson.

The ATC judge asked him whether the investigation team had tried to verify Mehsud’s voice. Mr Imtiaz replied that Aitzaz had confirmed before the investigation that it was the conversation between Baitullah Mehsud and Azizullah.

At this, Rao Abdul Rahim, one of the defence counsel, intervened and said an intelligence agency had fabricated the evidence and the voice recording was fake.

After reading the confessional statements, the prosecutor suggested the court to examine certain portions of a report prepared by the UN.

The ATC judge replied that he had already read the report but allowed the prosecution to produce its excerpts in support of the evidence.

The UN probe commission on April 15, 2010, issued its report saying: “Security arrangements by Pakistan’s federal and local authorities to protect assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto were fatally insufficient and ineffective and subsequent investigations into her death were prejudiced and involved a whitewash.”

The UN Commission of Inquiry, appointed by the then Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the request of the government of Pakistan, reached no conclusion about the organisers and sponsors of the attack in which a 15-year-old suicide bomber blew up Bhutto’s vehicle in Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi.

After perusal of the UN report, the court may ask the defence counsel to conclude their arguments.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2017