Pakistan makes two more arrests in Bhutto assassination plot

Feb 7, 2008, 11:25 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistani authorities on Thursday arrested two alleged militants they said were linked to the assassination of former prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, local media reported.

A joint investigation team arrested the suspects during a swoop in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack after leaving a campaign rally on December 27, Geo news television channel said.

The suspects were identified as Hasnain and Rafaqat.

The Pakistan government has pinned the assassination on Baitullah Mehsud, an al-Qaeda linked Pakistani Taliban commander in the country's lawless tribal areas. They also claim he has trained hundreds of suicide bombers to attack government and military targets.

Late last month, authorities arrested a would-be teenaged bomber, along with his handler, who reportedly confessed to being the next in line to attack Bhutto had she survived the Rawalpindi attack.

Meanwhile, an investigation team from Britain's Scotland Yard was due to submit a preliminary report on Bhutto's slaying to the government on Friday, according to the Interior Ministry.

Embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, whose government was accused by Bhutto's family of carrying out the hit, requested British assistance to quell public anger but limited Scotland Yard's role to assisting in examining and investigating forensic evidence.