RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court was told on Saturday that Benazir Bhutto was killed because she supported the Lal Masjid operation.

Magistrate Taufiq Ahmed, who had recorded confessional statements of Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Aitzaz Shah on Feb 13, 2008, said the accused told him that they wanted to kill only Ms Bhutto and because of the deaths of 23 other people in the attack, which they regretted, they would accept any punishment awarded to them.

During the hearing of the Benazir assassination case in Adiala Jail, the magistrate read out the confessional statements before ATC Judge Shahid Rafique.

According to the statements, the accused received Rs360,000 from Baitullah Mehsood while his associates, Abdullah alias Saddam and Qari Ismail, provided them two suicide bombers Saeed alias Bilal and Ikramullah.

They purchased a pistol to be used by the suicide attacker because the plan was to kill Ms Bhutto near the stage during her rally in Liaqat Bagh on Dec 27, 2007.

The accused, along with the suicide bomber, visited the venue on the night before the rally and took him to their residence in Quaid-i-Azam Colony in Rawalpindi.

The accused brought the bomber to the venue early in the morning only to learn that because of tight security arrangements, it was difficult to get inside and near the stage. Then they deployed the bomber in front of the gate of Liaqat Bagh and another attacker Ikramullah at another exit point.

After carrying out the crime, the accused reassembled near Fawara Chowk, Raja Bazar, and later went to their residence.

The magistrate, who is a prosecution witness, could not answer a few questions raised during cross-examination by defence counsel Naseer Tanoli related to the arrest of juvenile Aitzaz Shah and remand of the accused.

Senior public prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, produced another witness (Usman Maftoon of a private cellular company – Warid) who submitted to the court phone call record of the accused, according to which they were at Liaqat Bagh at the time of the attack.

Meanwhile, the same court also took up an application filed by Sehba Musharraf against court orders for the seizure of the property of her husband, former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

FIA prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali raised a number of objections on the power of attorney of her newly-engaged counsel, Ilyas Siddiqui.

He said there was not a single signature of Ms Musharraf on the document, it was not duly notarised and consularised and could not establish that it was filed on her behalf.

The court directed Advocate Siddiqui to remove objections and adjourned the case to Feb 18.