Court orders arrest of pro-Taliban commander in Bhutto's killing

Mar 10, 2008, 12:29 GMT

Islamabad - A Pakistani anti-terrorism court issued an arrest warrant Monday for a pro-Taliban commander operating in the country's restive tribal areas, accusing him of masterminding the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, officials said.

Authorities pinpointed Baitullah Mehsud, leader of a Pakistani Taliban umbrella organization in South Waziristan, as the main suspect hours after Bhutto was assassinated December 27 at an election rally in Rawalpindi.

The commander, who has links with al-Qaeda and leads a 5,000-strong militia, has denied the allegations.

But in late January authorities arrested a would-be teenage bomber, Aitzaz Shah, along with his handler Sher Zaman in Dera Ismail Khan, a town in the North-West Frontier Province. Aitzaz confessed to being next in line to attack Bhutto had she survived the Rawalpindi attack, authorities said. Both he and Zaman were linked to Mehsud's group.

Both suspects were presented at Rawalpindi's anti-terrorism court Monday with three other accused - Hasnain Gul, Abdul Rashid, and Rafaqat Hussain - who were arrested in Rawalpindi in February for their alleged roles in planning Bhutto's assassination.

The anti-terrorism judge issued the arrest warrant for Mehsud and four other people while ordering the five suspects already in custody held until their trial scheduled for March 18, a court official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Authorities have claimed Rafaqat and Gul confessed they were seeking revenge for the death of a comrade killed in a commando assault on Islamabad's Red Mosque in July.

They were outraged by US support for Bhutto, who had vowed to intensify the fight against militants in tribal areas, Abdul Majeed, head of a Pakistani police investigation team, told reporters last month.

Gul also confessed to organizing two suicide attacks on Pakistani military targets in Rawalpindi in 2007, including one that killed 11 people, authorities said

Mehsud has been accused of training hundreds of suicide bombers at his base in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan to target government, military and political figures.