Police make ‘important arrests’ in BB’s murder
Staff Report

RAWALPINDI—Rawalpindi Police have arrested two people wanted in connection with the assassination of late Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Benazir Bhutto and shifted them to undisclosed location for further investigation.
The joint investigation team investigation the case has arrested two people Hasnain and Rafaqat from Rawalpindi for their alleged involvement in murder of Benazir Bhutto. They have been shifted to undisclosed location where the investigators are further investigation them. Police sources confirmed the news by saying that both youngsters aged between 22 to 27 were arrested for supporting the attackers involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The arrested youngsters also helped the terrorists to reach them (terrorists) at Liaquat Bagh by taking hefty amount, sources added. It is merit mentioning here that Bhutto died in a gun and suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi, Liaquat Bagh on December 27.
Pakistani authorities announced two “important arrests” in the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, as her husband issued a rallying call to supporters ahead of an election his wife should have fought. Polling was put off until February 18 after the slaying of the most charismatic Pakistani politician of the past 20 years sucked oxygen out of campaigning and heightened international concern about mounting insecurity in the nuclear-armed country.
The arrests were made in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where two-time prime minister Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack by a hit team Pakistani and U.S. intelligence believes was sent by a Taliban commander linked to al Qaeda. “These are important arrests. Investigations are under way,” Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.
A senior police officer in Rawalpindi identified the suspects as Hasnain and Rifaqat, but gave no other details. The arrests follow two last month, including a 15-year-old youth who admitted being a back-up suicide bomber. Conspiracy theories still swirl over who was behind the gun and suicide bomb attack that killed Bhutto. Controversy also rages over whether Bhutto was killed by a bullet or by a concussive head injury caused by the bomb detonated after an assassin shot at her from close range.
A poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan found that almost half of all Pakistanis believe government agencies or politicians allied to President Pervez Musharraf were involved in the assassination. A British police team that the government invited to investigate is expected to share its findings with Pakistani investigators in the coming days.
While not a presidential election, the outcome could have serious consequences for U.S. ally Musharraf, who came to power as a general in a coup in 1999 and is now going through his most unpopular period. Musharraf could face impeachment if a hostile parliament emerges from the next parliament. Bhutto’s widower Asif Ali Zardari, in a speech to thousands of mourners gathered to mark the end of a 40-day Muslim mourning period at his wife’s ancestral village in southern Sindh province, vowed to risk assassination championing her cause. “If I am martyred before completing the mission of Benazir Bhutto, then I should also be buried here,” Zardari said in a speech televised by private news channels.
“This is the fight between establishment and the people,” said Zardari, who spent eight years in jail but was never convicted of corruption charges he says were politically motivated.