BB murder probe: ‘Investigation report not to be publicised’

PPP office-bearer says the reaction to the report might have far-reaching ramifications.

ISLAMABAD: Preoccupied with what seems to be political turmoil, the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has apparently abandoned plans to publicise the findings of an investigation into the 2007 assassination of its leader Benazir Bhutto, fearing the move can make unwanted waves.

It was on December 27 last year, the day of Bhutto’s third death anniversary, that top PPP leaders promised a gathering of party workers at Benazir’s mausoleum Sindh that they would make the contents of the investigation report public within a week.

Almost three weeks have passed and there has still not been any follow-up on the promise.

In the meantime, some parts of the report published in the media suggest that a move to throw facts surrounding
the murder into the public domain might pitch the PPP administration against the powerful military.

According to the leaked portion, the report indicated the involvement of a serving army brigadier in the murder, although the government has denied the revelation.

A PPP insider told The Express Tribune that the party’s top tier had taken the decision to not to push for publicising the report after a flurry of activities since Bhutto’s anniversary appeared to be threatening the future of the government.

“A lot has happened after the announcement … all to suggest that Bhutto’s murderers are so powerful that they can block any move against them,” a PPP official said, without blaming anyone for the assassination in a bullet-and-suicide attack outside a Rawalpindi park.

But there have already been indications of whom the PPP core leadership considers the killers of Benazir.

A close associate of President Asif Zardari, MNA Nadeem Afzal Gondal, said in the National Assembly during its last session that those “who created the Taliban and then later labeled them as terrorists” had murdered Benazir.

Though the statement did not carry any direct allegations against an individuals or institution, it was a clear reference to the country’s powerful security establishment.

“All that follows, we think, can be the reaction of this statement or promise of making the report public,” the party official said.

He claimed the decision of keeping things secret reflects the general feel within the party that the reaction might be too harsh to be borne.

The key allies of PPP’s central government, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), quit the ruling coalition at this time.

Along with this a sustained campaign by political opponents and a hostile top court kept the pressure up on the government.

“The decision was to not open another front when the battle is raging on many others,” the PPP leader said, as justification behind abandoning the plan.

But an official spokesperson for the party came out with an altogether different explanation.

MNA Fauzia Wahab denied there was any promise to make the report public within a week. “It was a miscommunication,” she told The Express Tribune from Karachi.

Rather, she added, the report had hitherto not been finalised and would for sure be brought before the public once it was completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2011.