Re: Al Qaeda-Linked Militant Baitullah Mehsud Denies Bhutto Murder
Nobody objective in Pakistan believed the govt blaming Al-Qaeda/Mehsud. Further evidence, if any was needed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22427154/
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Islamic militants said Saturday they had no link to Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, dismissing government claims that a leader of pro-Taliban forces in Pakistan carried out the suicide attack on the opposition leader.
Bhutto’s aides also said they doubted the militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack and accused the government of a cover-up.
“We strongly deny it. Baitullah Mehsud is not involved in the killing of Benazir Bhutto,” he said in a telephone call he made to The Associated Press from the tribal region of South Waziristan.
“The fact is that we are only against America, and we don’t consider political leaders of Pakistan our enemy,” he said, adding he was speaking on instructions from Mehsud.
Mehsud heads Tehrik-i-Taliban, a newly formed coalition of Islamic militants committed to waging holy war against the government, which is a key U.S. ally in its war on terror.
Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party accused the government of trying to frame Mehsud, saying the militant – through emissaries – had previously told Bhutto he was not involved in the Karachi bombing.
“The story that al-Qaida or Baitullah Mehsud did it appears to us to be a planted story, an incorrect story, because they want to divert the attention,” said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto’s party.
After the Karachi attack, Bhutto accused elements in the ruling pro-Musharraf party of plotting to kill her. The government denied the claims. Babar said Bhutto’s allegations were never investigated.