I will choose my timing, Benazir told Musharraf: Rehman Malik

Ex-interior minister shares details of Benazir-Musharraf meeting

ISLAMABAD: “I will choose my own timing, not yours” were the chilling last words of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to the then president and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf when they met in Dubai in mid-2007, said former interior minister Rehman Malik.

Malik was the point man to Benazir Bhutto, he was the man tasked with contacting the military leadership that paved the way for the former prime minister to return to the country from her self-exile in October 2007.



In an interview with The Express Tribune, Malik reveals some details of the famous meeting between the two which both the sides had been denying but remains an open secret in the media.

The former interior minister claims that contacts between the PPP and then the military leadership had started long before their final meeting in July-August 2007.

Malik also claims that he already had several meetings with Musharraf’s key advisers in London and he (Malik) was actually the one who persuaded her to reach out to powerful military establishment.

“I had been pursuing Mohtarma to talk to the army. I used to say let us talk with the army, she used to say, ‘No’. One day while on a walk in Dubai, I said to her if we will not talk to the army, then we will never be able to put things on track. We should remove their apprehensions. I gave some cogent arguments that I would not share here. Ultimately, she agreed. That’s how we started talking,” Malik narrates how the events unfolded.

Discussions continued for a long time, he says. First contact he was able to establish was with Tariq Aziz, the then national security adviser to the former military president.



Before that, he had been in touch with Gen Etisham (Zamir), he said. “Ultimately, I was able to make contact with General Hamid (Javed) and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani,” he recalls.

“Gen Kayani, General Hamid and some other generals had been coming to London. I had been coordinating with them on BB’s behalf,” he said. These contacts ultimately resulted in a final huddle between Gen Pervez Musharraf and BB in Dubai in a royal palace.

“First, I had a meeting with Gen Musharraf, Gen Kayani, and Gen Shafaat. This was followed by one-on-one meeting between Musharraf and BB. After 10-15 minutes or so, they asked us to join in,” Malik says.

He remembers the last words of this meeting when Musharraf told BB to return to Pakistan on New Year and they will celebrate it together.



“BB said, ‘No, Gen. I will choose my timings and not your timings. That’s my right’. These were the last words between the two before we left,” Malik quoted Benazir as telling Musharraf.

Malik claims that the infamous NRO actually came at the behest of the MQM.



“Neither did we ask for the NRO nor did we sign it. They (Musharraf’s aides) had offered to quash our cases. Then they said they won’t. We said it’s up to you. A general came and said let’s look into your case. BB said don’t bring cases in it. We will face them,” the former interior minister claims, without elaborating the name of the military officer or the venue of the talks.

According to Malik, the whole conspiracy of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is exposed during the investigations.

“Where this was planned, who were the planners, who executed it? Who were the handlers, where did they stay in Akora Khattak, all details are available. Murderers were identified, arrested and challaned. But the trial is still going on.”

According to him, TTP leader Baitullah Masood, Ilyas Kashmiri, Khabab al Misri and al Qaeda, all planned it. Malik believes it is quite possible al Qaeda might have been used in it.

“Those who do this do not leave any traces behind,” he remarked.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2016.