We will not attack on Benazir: Abu Hafs

ISLAMABAD— Lal Masjid has rejected Benazir Bhutto’s claims they could try to assassinate her when she returns on Thursday after eights years in exile.

"An attack on a leader as insignificant as (Benazir) would be a sign of great desperation, disorganisation and demoralisation on the part of our cadres," spokesman Abu Hafs said in a statement.

He said the mosque movement would "gain nothing from attacking Benazir" and claimed President Pervez Musharraf would use Bhutto’s return as an excuse to impose martial law to prolong his rule.

The Tehreek e Talba o Talibat does not believe in terrorism and political assassination as a mean to bring about an Islamic revolution. It is a known fact that not even a single opponent of the movement before or after the infamous Operation Silence was physically attacked, he said

The former premier told a news conference in Dubai on Wednesday that she could be attacked by Afghan, Arab and Red Mosque supporters after she arrives when she returns to Karachi later Thursday.

But students at the Red Mosque in Islamabad described the comments as ridiculous, and said they did not believe in such killings.