|
Ex-MI chief Nadeem Ijaz whitewashed
A three-member committee formed by the prime minister to investigate the hosing down of the site where former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated has completed its report, providing a clean chit to the former director general of Military Intelligence (MI), Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz, knowledgeable sources told Dawn on Monday.They said the committee had not fixed criminal liability on any of the accused senior police officials, including former city police officer (CPO) of Rawalpindi, Saud Aziz, but mentioned that the crime site was washed on the orders of police officials. The fact-finding committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary Chaudhry Abdul Rauf, presented its report to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who had sought it in seven working days. "Rauf Sahib called on the prime minister at the PM House at night," a source close to Mr Rauf told Dawn on Monday. Findings of the report said that on the basis of given statements and evidences, the committee had reached to a conclusion that police washed the crime scene outside Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi without any pressure or any order from higher authorities. It said police ordered the hosing down of the site in order to avoid a law and order situation because workers of Pakistan People's Party were in an agitated state. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack on Dec 27, 2007, after a public rally in Liaquat Bagh. The fact-finding committee was formed in the light of the UN Commission report which questioned why the crime site was washed within one-and-a-half hours of the assassination. The UN commission inquiry had also suggested that the investigation had been severely hampered by intelligence agencies and government officials, which impeded an unfettered search for the truth. It hinted that the crime scene was washed on the instruction of some intelligence officials and the orders were obeyed by top officials of Rawalpindi police. The committee recorded statements of 40 people, including former MI chief, officials of police, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Rescue 15 emergency service. The committee saw about 150 evidences, including 39 forensic evidences, and looked into the documentary record of wireless communication of police and mobile record of the accused. The sources said the former MI chief had already rejected the impression that he had ordered the hosing down of the site. Gen Ijaz told the committee members that he and his men had nothing to do with the washing of the site. The former CPO presented the details of evidences and other material police had collected in addition to taking extensive photographs of the crime scene. Mr Aziz negated the UN report, saying it was not based on facts because the crime scene was washed after collecting all necessary evidences. He was of the view that in many such incidents, crime scenes were washed even within half an hour after the crime. He termed the UN report a flawed one, saying a lot credible details he had provided to the commission had not been incorporated in the report. He apprised the committee that the evidence collected from the site was sufficient and provided lead to the joint investigation team to lay hand on real culprits, but no significant progress had been seen so far. SP Khurram Shahzad endorsed the statement of Saud Aziz, saying the site was washed after the evidence had been collected. Security experts are of the view that instead of forming committees on specific issues, the government should order a judicial inquiry so that all aspects of assassination and findings of the UN commission report could be addressed. Posted by: Fred 2010-05-05 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=296071 |