January 03, 2008
Musharraf 'Not Fully Satisfied' With Handling Of Bhutto's Death
In a press conference one week after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf today forcefully denied claims that his government had any involvement in the slain former prime minister's death, and he offered his request for an inquiry by Scotland Yard as proof.
"We don't mind going to any extent, as nobody is involved from the government or agency side," he said. Musharraf also denied accusations that Bhutto's security detail was inadequate and suggested that she was partly responsible for her own death. "Who is to be blamed for her coming out (of) her vehicle?" he asked. The president expressed hope that British investigators will be able to come up with answers.
Despite his denial of any government role in Bhutto's death, Musharraf indicated that he was unsatisfied with the way Pakistan handled the aftermath.
He criticized a government report that claimed the former prime minister died from head trauma related to the bomb blast that hit her vehicle on Dec. 27 (Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party maintains that she was shot), and he acknowledged some "inefficiency" with the way the crime scene was handled. "I'm not fully satisfied. I will accept that: cleaning the area. Why did they do that?" Musharraf asked in reference to officials who hosed down the bomb site mere hours after Bhutto was killed. But he said there was no deliberate attempt to conceal evidence from the attack.
Agence France-Presse, the London Guardian and the Wall Street Journal (subscription) have more on this story. The Gate's previous coverage of Bhutto's assassination and the resulting chaos in Pakistan can be found here, here and here.
