UN blames Musharraf govt for Benazir Bhutto’s murder
Apr 16, 2010 Pakistan, World News, pakistan politics
NEW YORK: A three-member United Nations commission investigating the events and circumstances surrounding Benazir Bhutto’s assassination has blamed the government of former president Pervez Musharraf for the murder, saying it failed to provide adequate security cover to the former prime minister.
Although no functionary of the former government has been accused of complicity in the murder, the 65-page report has blamed Pervez Musharraf’s government, particularly its police and security network of negligence.
It said the present government was free to carry out further investigations and bring those responsible for the crime as well as negligence to justice.
Report of the UN Commission of inquiry of the assassination of Benzair Bhutto
The three-member panel, headed by Chilean ambassador Heraldo Munoz, submitted its report to UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon on Thursday afternoon. He immediately handed it over to Pakistan’s UN envoy Hussain Haroon. However, at the eleventh hour Islamabad decided against making its content public before the findings were studied by senior government officials.
Senior officials of Pakistan’s mission had earlier indicated that on receiving the UN Commission’s report Ambassador Hussain Haroon would share its findings at a news conference.
However, the media event was postponed at the last minute and it was announced that the findings would now be made public in Islamabad by senior members of the government. Still, the UN secretariat decided that it was too important a report to be kept hidden from the public, and at a hurriedly arranged news conference made the report public.
As people in Pakistan waited eagerly for the release of the findings of the UN probe body, security in the country was beefed up, with United Nations mission in Pakistan advising its staff to act cautiously and avoid going to public places.
Though details contained in the report were not known, UN officials stationed in Pakistan were not prepared to take any chances, fearing a possible backlash.
Pakistani officials said police and paramilitary troops were on high alert, and security was being stepped up outside the foreign missions and UN office, but only as a precautionary measure.
In Islamabad, a senior official earlier said there were no startling revelations in the report. The 3-member probe body headed by the Chilean ambassador to the UN has mostly relied on evidence collected by talking to the same set of officials and other people who had already made their views public. Analysts say its hard to believe that the Un panel would clear state its views on any major conspiracy involving state or non-state actors in the assassination.
The UN panel was to hand over its report on March 30 but on the request of the Pakistani authorities it delayed release by two weeks.
An official of the UN told the media in New York that despite this delay no fresh detatils were inserted into the report.
• UN probe was “hampered” by Pakistani intelligence
• Police failure to probe the assassination “deliberate”
• Security arrangements were “fatally insufficient”
• Several conspiracy theories have been circulating since the assassination
• Need for criminal investigation to look into the role of Al Qaeda, Taliban, and what is known in Pakistan as “establishment”
• Declaration by government that Benazir was killed by a hatch of the vehicle, and that Baitullah Mehsud was responsible were premature, and before proper investigation
• Hosing of the area of bomb blast and failure to conduct post-mortem badly affected investigation. Officials and their superior responsible
• Responsibility of the present government to carry out serious investigation to bring the conspirator and perpetrator of the crime to justice.
Tags: Assasination report, Benazir Bhutto, Benazir UN Report, Musharraf govt, UN report
CEC meeting
Apr 5, 2010 Uncategorized
Dawn Editorial
Monday, 05 Apr, 2010
The death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is always an emotionally charged occasion for the PPP but for those looking for signs about where the latest tussle between the executive and the judiciary may be headed, the weekend offered up some unsettling clues.
The PPP will not allow the trial of Benazir Bhutto and her mother, Nusrat Bhutto, according to some PPP spokespersons. The president enjoys constitutional immunity and the Swiss cases cannot be reopened, the country was also told. Admittedly, these comments were not made by the most senior members of the PPP. They were made in a political, not legal, context. Nevertheless, they send a disquieting signal that the ongoing tussle over the implementation of the NRO judgment will continue, and perhaps even be ratcheted up in the weeks ahead. The government has shown no regret over the resignation of the attorney general and the law minister, blamed by the AG for ‘interfering’ in the implementation of the NRO judgment, blithely dismissed any criticism of his role.
The nation has seen before that crises can emerge out of nowhere and destabilise the political dispensation. The government needs well-thought-out next steps on the matter of President Zardari’s immunity. If the government believes the president enjoys immunity, while the Supreme Court wants some movement on the reopening of the Swiss cases, then it is incumbent upon the government to explain, with legal reasoning, its position to the Supreme Court. What the law permits or does not permit is ultimately, and constitutionally, a matter for the Supreme Court to decide. Some may be dismayed by the manner and style of the court’s attempts to get the NRO judgment implemented but that does not change the underlying constitutional reality. Immunity in the specific cases must be decided in a court of law and not the court of public opinion. The PPP has always maintained that all of the allegations against its co-chairman and other senior members of the party are politically motivated and have no merit. The allegations against President Zardari have hung over him for over a decade and a half now. The only way of putting them to rest is the legal route. If the president enjoys immunity, then the government should say so in the appropriate legal forum. If he does not, then let his legal team fight the charges and put the issue to rest once and for all.
Tags: Benazir Bhutto, CEC Meeting, judiciary, Supreme Court, Zulifqar Bhutto
Strange request
Apr 1, 2010 News & Events, Pakistan
Dawn Editorial Thursday, 01 Apr, 2010
While one can perhaps understand the reason behind the UN’s decision to close its offices in Pakistan for three days, one fails to appreciate the logic behind the government’s ‘urgent’ request to the UN commission on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination to delay its report. The decision to close UN offices for three days is not without justification. Quite a few offices of UN aid agencies and those run by foreign (and Pakistani) NGOs have been bombed by fanatics, resulting in fatalities. For that reason one cannot rule out more such attacks when the UN commission finally releases its report on such an emotive issue as Ms Bhutto’s assassination. What is difficult to fathom is the president’s request to the UN panel to delay the release of its findings till April 15.
Approaching a foreign organisation for investigating an internal matter was by any standards something out of the ordinary. In recognised democracies, no self-respecting party, even if in opposition, would seek a UN investigation for an internal matter. In Lebanon, the people’s request for investigating Rafik Hariri’s murder was not without justification: Syria had a presence in Lebanon and could use its influence in government to obstruct investigation. In December 2007, when Ms Bhutto was killed, the PPP’s decision to ask for a UN investigation seemed to reflect its obvious lack of confidence in the impartiality of the Musharraf government. That the PPP repeated the demand when it assumed power made little sense showing that it had no confidence in its own security apparatus.
Explaining the reason behind the government request, an interior ministry spokesman said Islamabad wanted the UN investigators to include the statement of three heads of state who had forewarned Benazir of the assassination plot. The statement of one head of state had been recognised, and Islamabad now wanted the commission to record the views of the other two. Their evidence, according to the spokesman, was of “paramount importance”. Surely, the government must have known about the high alerts sounded by three world personalities all along, and if the UN commission was not aware of this major source of evidence, Islamabad should have told the UN body much earlier. Why the urgent request at this late stage when the report is ready? As it is, the commission’s terms of reference stood circumscribed from the very beginning. It was not supposed to fix guilt but to examine “the facts and circumstances” of the crime at Rawalpindi on Dec 27, 2007. There is no dearth of believers in conspiracy theories, and the government’s fumbling only adds to their numbers.
Tags: Benazir Bhutto, Bhutto, UN report
NRO list out, 34 politicians among 8,000 beneficiaries
Nov 22, 2009 News & Events, Pakistan, pakistan politics
ISLAMABAD: A majority of the NRO beneficiaries have been bureaucrats and government officials as a list, released by the government on Saturday, contained names of only 34 politicians out of a total of 8,000.
According to the list, almost 97 per cent of the beneficiaries are from Sindh. The ordinance will lapse on Nov 28 in the light of the Supreme Court’s July 31 verdict in the PCO judges case.
The list shows that a total of 8,041 people — 7,793 from Sindh — have benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf on Oct 5, 2007.
These people have got withdrawn 3,478 cases (3,320 in Sindh) registered against them on charges of corruption, financial bungling, misuse of authority and criminal charges.
Gen (retd) Musharraf promulgated the NRO after striking a deal with PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in order to grant amnesty to all those against whom politically-motivated cases were registered between Jan 1, 1986, and Oct 12, 1999.
Mohammad Afzal Sindhu, the Minister of State for Law and Justice, released the list at a news conference soon after a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
In reply to a question, the minister said the government would not defend or protect any NRO beneficiary.
Earlier this month, the PPP had to withdraw its earlier initiative of presenting the NRO before parliament following a vociferous protest by the opposition and the decision of all its major coalition partners not to support the bill in the legislature.
The NRO is among the 37 ordinances about which the Supreme Court, in its July 31 verdict, had decreed that their fate should be decided by parliament within 120 days.
There are no surprises in the list as most of the prominent names had already appeared in the national press over the past few days.
Interestingly, the list provided by the minister contained the breakdown of only those withdrawn cases that pertained to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. The document is silent about the number of cases registered against other beneficiaries.
The minister said there were only 34 politicians among the NRO beneficiaries, belying the insinuation that it was the politicians who had benefited the most from the amnesty.
Mr Sindhu said President Asif Zardari enjoyed indemnity under Article 248 of the Constitution and no new or old cases could be opened against him as long as he was in the Presidency.
‘In my opinion relief once granted cannot be reversed under the law. However, the government will implement the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter in letter and in spirit.’
He recalled that two petitions challenging the NRO were already pending before the apex court.
According to Mr Sindhu, several cases in Sindh were disposed of on the recommendations of a review board that had been set up under clause 2 of the NRO.
He said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had himself admitted that most of the cases against President Zardari and PPP leaders were politically-motivated.
The two parties had agreed in the Charter of Democracy, signed by Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif in 2006, to withdraw all politically-motivated cases. He said the name of the prime minister’s wife was not there in the list.
The list showed that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had got withdrawn the highest number of cases against him – 72, including 31 on murder and 11 on attempt to murder charges.
Dr Farooq Sattar, the MQM’s parliamentary leader, occupied the second slot. A total of 23 cases were withdrawn against him, including five on charges of murder and four on attempt to murder.
The third biggest beneficiary appeared to be provincial minister Shoaib Bukhari, of the MQM, against whom 21 cases were withdrawn, including 16 on murder and attempt to murder charges.
The Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Babar Ghouri, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad, Imran Farooq, Saleem Shahzad, Waseem Akhtar and former MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus are other prominent MQM leaders who benefited from the NRO.
Among the beneficiaries belonging to People’s Party were Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Mir Baz Khetran, Sindh provincial minister Agha Siraj Durrani and Senator Jehangir Badar.
Salman Farooqi, secretary-general to the president, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington Hussain Haqqani and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, were prominent in the section that had names of individuals other than politicians.
Although PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had been claiming that no member of his party had benefited from the NRO, the list showed that at least four PML-N members had got relief.
They are MNA Chaudhry Shaukat Ali, Rana Nazir Ahmed, former MNAs Chaudhry Abdul Hameed and Haji Kabir, and former MPA Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali.
Despite the official release of the list, a number of “beneficiaries” denied that they had taken any relief under the NRO.
The parliamentary leader of the MQM in the National Assembly and Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis announced that his party was ready to face all cases in courts.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan told a private TV channel that he was not an NRO beneficiary and that he would take up the matter with the prime minister.
Hussain Haqqani, the ambassador to Washington, also protested innocence. Senator Jehangir Badar, the PPP secretary-general, also contested the inclusion of his name.
The following is a list of other prominent NRO beneficiaries:
Nusrat Bhutto (PPP); Haji Nawaz Khokhar (former deputy speaker of National Assembly); Malik Mushtaq Awan (PPP); Mian Mohammad Rasheed; Tariq Anees; Anwar Saifullah Khan (MNA); Sardar Mansoor Leghari (ex-MNA); Aftab Sherpao (MNA); Habibullah Kundi (former NWFP minister); and Ahmed Sadiq (ex-principal secretary to PM).
Tags: 000 beneficiaries, 8, Benazir Bhutto, Mohammad Afzal Sindhu, Musharraf, NRO, PPP, Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Cheney ordered assassination of Benazir Bhutto: Hersh
May 19, 2009 News & Events, Pakistan, pakistan politics
Tuesday, 19 May, 2009
WASHINGTON: A special death squad assassinated Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on the orders of former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, claims an American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
Mr Hersh, a Washington-based journalist who writes for the New Yorker magazine and other prominent media outlets, also claims that former US Vice President Dick Cheney was running an ‘executive assassination ring’ throughout the Bush years. The cell reported directly to Mr Cheney.
In an interview to an Arab television channel, Mr Hersh indicated that the same unit killed Ms Bhutto because in an interview with al Jazeera TV on Nov. 2, 2007, she had said she believed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was already dead.
Ms Bhutto said she believed Omar Saeed Sheikh, an al Qaeda activist imprisoned in Pakistan for killing US journalist Daniel Pearl, murdered bin Laden.
But the interviewer, veteran British journalist David Frost, deleted her claim from the interview, Mr Hersh said.
The controversial US journalist told Gulf News on May 12 he believed Ms Bhutto was assassinated because the US leadership did not want bin Laden to be declared dead.
The Bush administration wanted to keep bin Laden alive to justify the presence of US army in Afghanistan to combat the Taliban, Mr Hersh said.
The Pulitzer prize-winning American journalist claimed that the unit also killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafique Al Hariri and the army chief of that country.
Mr Hariri and the Lebanese army chief were murdered for not safeguarding US interests and refusing to allow US to set up military bases in Lebanon. Ariel Sharon, the then prime minister of Israel, was also a key man in the plot, Mr Hersh said.
On March 11, Mr Hersh told a seminar at the University of Minnesota that the unit Mr Cheney headed was very deeply involved in extra-legal operations.
‘It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently,’ he explained. ‘They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. … Congress has no oversight of it.’
‘It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on,’ Mr Hersh stated. ‘Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That’s been going on, in the name of all of us.’
Although Mr Cheney had ignored such allegations in the past, recently he began responding to these charges, making counter allegations against the Obama administration.
Last week in particular, Mr Cheney appeared almost daily on popular talk shows and also delivered a formal address at the American Enterprise Institute on the importance of interrogation techniques widely considered to be torture.
Once known for his reticence and low profile, Mr Cheney has now become his party’s most audible voice.
Media commentators, however, attribute his sudden exuberance to the fear that if he did not defend himself, he may be prosecuted for authorising torture.
‘Mr Cheney knew, when he began his media assault, that the worst of the horrors inflicted upon detainees at his specific command are not yet widely known,’ said one commentator.
‘If the real stuff comes into full public light, he feared the general outrage will be so furious and all-encompassing that the Obama administration will have no choice but to … seek prosecutions of those Bush-era officials who specifically demanded those barbaric acts be inflicted upon prisoners.’
One blogger wrote that Mr Cheney not only authorised water-boarding, putting prisoners in confined spaces, pushing them, slapping them, putting bugs on them or demeaning them and their religious faith.
He quoted former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld telling a congressional panel in July of 2004 that if pictures of such acts were ‘released to the public, obviously it’s going to make matters worse.’
Mr Hersh recently gave a speech to the American Civil Liberties Union making the charge that children were sodomized in front of women in the prison, and the Pentagon has tape of it.
Tags: Al-Qaeda, Benazir Bhutto, Bush years, Dick Cheney, Mr Hersh, osama bin laden
