Pakistan assassin says he acted alone
He may (or may not) have acted alone, but plenty of those around him knew his plans and approved... including those on his team charged with stopping such things, as he was also. | [Asharq al-Aswat] The bodyguard behind Pakistain's most high-profile political liquidation in three years has confessed that he acted alone in the shooting of governor Salman Taseer, police said.
Police commando Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who was led away smiling on Tuesday after gunning down his boss outside an Islamabad coffee shop, appeared in court for a remand hearing following his official confession.
He has said he killed in the name of religion because the governor of Punjab province wanted to reform controversial blasphemy laws.
"He has recorded his confessional statement for the murder... in which he said that he killed Salman Taseer on his own and there was no involvement of any Islamic or orc organisation," senior police official Haroon Joya told AFP.
Members of the main ruling Pakistain People's Party (PPP), to which Punjab provincial governor Taseer belonged, had suggested that his killing was part of a wider plot, and slammed security failures that led to his death.
Questions have been asked about why no policeman or guard apparently made an attempt to overpower the 26-year-old gunman.
Qadri was not due in court until Tuesday, but officials said he was brought to a closed hearing in Rawalpindi a day early after officially confessing to the crime, infuriating defence lawyers who said they were not invited.
"The move was to avoid arguments from the defence," defence lawyer Malik Waheed Anjum told AFP.
"None of our lawyers could attend the court because we didn't know about the proceedings."
Posted by: Fred 2011-01-11 |