KARACHI – Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s claim that the government has arrested the killers of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, three years after the assassination, is bound to be false and designed only to abate mounting pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari, argued Sindh National Front (SNF) Chairman Mumtaz Ali Bhutto on Saturday.
“What about the case filed against Musharraf? And what about the case filed by his government against two police officers? Rehman Malik’s latest claim not only makes those two cases conclusively false, but also puts in doubt the veracity of the interior minister’s newest claim,” he said.
Bhutto said there is also the matter of the UN Commission, which raises the question of why didn’t Malik and Zardari’s other confidante, Babar Awan, abscond from the scene of the murder in Benazir’s support car when the shooting started. He said that one of the accused police officer’s disclosure that it was Zardari who persuaded Benazir on phone that she should expose herself from the sunroof of the vehicle is also vital.
The phone set was said to be untraceable, but it has suddenly been produced by a servant at Bilawal House after very obviously the log of the phone-calls has been duly tampered with. “Another interesting piece of news today is Zardari’s grand announcement that he will play the role of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly if the PPP fails to secure a majority in the next elections. Such a majority has now become clearly impossible because the betrayed and tormented people have clearly lost all patience for the Zardari-led PPP,” he said.
Bhutto further argued that widespread protests and demonstrations in Sindh reflect that Zardari has even lost the “Sindh card” while the failure of the strike call against the Supreme Court on the NAB Chairman issue, particularly in Naudero and Ratodero, is irrefutable proof that Zardari’s PPP has lost support.
The SNF leader claimed that people are not going to allow Zardari to complete his term, but before any escape, he must face four murder cases, including that of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, as well as 13 corruption cases, including the Swiss cases. The president also has much to answer for three years of “merciless loot and plunder” of the nation.
