‘Zardari cooperated with UN in BB murder probe’

Heraldo Munoz, writer of the book “Getting Away With Murder – Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination and the Politics of Pakistan” said that former president Asif Ali Zardari cooperated every time the UN commission approached him for investigation.

Talking to Daily Times at the Media Department of George Washington University, Munoz – chief investigator of UN commission which was established to probe Benazir Bhutto’s assassination – said, “President Zardari and PPP government did facilitate us though initially we have faced few difficulties.”

Along with students and US State Department officials, Mark Siegel – close aide and friend of Bhutto family who had also testified in Benazir’s murder trail – attended the second inauguration event of the book at the university. In his book, Munoz, also a former UN assistant secretary noted, “We requested a private conversation with president Zardari to inquire about key facts relevant to our work. He accommodated us on at least two further occasions; our interviews included a lengthy and emotionally charged question-and-answer session at his suite at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Manhattan during his attendance at September 2009 General Debate of UN General Assembly in New York.”

In one of his chapter of the book “The Assassination”, he highlighted that former Inter-Services Intelligence director general Major General Nadeem Taj in a meeting with Benazir Bhutto in early hours of December 27 did convey about a possible terrorist attack against her and urged Ms Bhutto to limit her public exposure and keep a low profile at the campaign rally at Liauqat Bagh later the day.

“Intelligence officers from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates had arrived by private plane in Pakistan the day before, General Taj said, to convey credible information about possible attack, which coincided with the revelation of ISI intelligence regarding terrorist cell in Mardan that might attack her in Rawalpindi,” said Munoz in his 268-page book also carrying Benazir’s picture on the cover.

He further mentioned, “Using communication-interception technology, the ISI had been tracking three separate Pakistani Taliban cells that were supposedly planning to attack Benazir, and the agency already knew about the information coming from foreign intelligence counterparts.”

It is worth noting that Gen Taj responded to a query of Benazir during conversation at her residence in Islamabad on December 27 that: “General Kayani’s policy was that the ISI, from now on, was going to stay out of politics.”

Regarding meeting with former chief of army staff Gen (r) Ashfaq Kayani, Mr Munoz said, “General Kayani considered the performance of Rawalpindi police after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as ‘amateur’.” The writer quoted General (r) Kayani as saying, “If in 24 hours you don’t completely secure the scene, then you lose the threads to solve a case.”

He said that General (r) Kayani believed that the “Musharraf government’s press conference that had identified Mehsud as the culprit and offered the cause of her death the day following the killing had been ‘premature’. It should not have been done.” In his concluding remarks, Munoz said UN commission was not mandated to pinpoint culprits but broadly al Qeeda and Pakistan’s establishment were responsible for the murder of Benazir Bhutto besides number of other factors. Talking to Daily Times, Mark Siegel refused to offer any comment on the book, saying, “I was one of the persons who testified in Benazir’s murder case so it will not be suitable to make any comment.”