ISLAMABAD – Scores of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) workers staged a protest rally on Saturday over the arrest warrants issued against their party chairman Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto Assassination case.
A large number of APML, workers including former ministers Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, Senior Vice President Ahmed Raza Kasuri and Dr Muhammad Amjad participated in the rally, which commenced from the APML Secretariat and culminated outside Parliament House. While delivering a telephonic address to participants of the gathering from Abu Dhabi, the former president called the issuance of arrest warrants against him part of a “political conspiracy” against him, which he said he was not afraid of.
“This is a bid to restrict my return to the country, but with public support, I will defeat all such conspirators and will be with my countrymen soon,” he said. “Today, the state of affairs in Pakistan is deteriorating and the people are facing price hike, inflation, unemployment and others – which was not the case when I was at the helm of affairs. We would have to save Pakistan and for the same purpose, I will return with public support,” he asserted in a defiant mode.
Musharraf said he had nothing to do with the murder of Benazir Bhutto, as he did not get any benefit from her assassination. He said the public knew well about the man who had benefited from the assassination of the former prime minister. He made it clear that he did not fear anyone and the present government was adopting such tactics after seeing the popularity of his party among the masses. He said that all the development works undertaken by his government were enough for the people to analyse the difference between him and incumbent rulers.
“The people should strengthen the APML to make Pakistan a prosperous and developed country,” he added. APML Secretary General Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the government was trying to implicate Musharraf in a false case. He said FIA was making wrong statements of trying to locate Musharraf in London or in Chak Shahzad, whereas he was in front of the whole world. Reacting on the FIA report against Musharraf, he said the report was baseless.
Talking to Pakistan Today, former minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi said the government was staging a drama to implicate Musharraf in the BB assassination case, adding that Asif Ali Zardari did not allow the autopsy of Benazir to conceal facts. To a question on his party’s stance on the Raymond Davis case, Niazi said his party had clarified that Davis must be awarded an exemplary punishment.
