Benazir murder case: Former FIA director general summoned

RAWALPINDI:

Former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general Khalid Qureshi has been summoned by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on April 27, in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

He is the last witness that the court has summoned.

Meanwhile, in the court of the ATC Special Judge Muhammad Ayub Marth, former president Pervez Musharraf’s counsel Farrukh Naseem completed his arguments over the statement made by an important witness in the case the FIA deputy director Ghulam Asghar Jatoi, on Thursday.

During cross examination, the witness, Jatoi said that Musharraf  was nominated as an accused in the case after witness statements against him.

He said that former Intelligence Bureau head Brig (retired) Ejaz Shah and former Interior Ministry spokesperson Brig (retired) Javed Iqbal Cheema’s statements too were against the former president.

Jatoi said that Benazir Bhutto in her book, in an address at an event in Islamabad as well as in her email to US journalist Mark Siegel had blamed Musharraf for not providing her security and for threatening her.

He said that she was not provided the kind of security she had requested.

The hearing was adjourned till April 27.

Eight accused nominated by the FIA will submit written statements to the court after April 27.

The accused include Pervez Musharraf, DIG Saoud Aziz, SP Khurram Shahzad, Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Rafaqat, Husnain, and Abdur Rasheed.

The FIR in the case was registered on 27 December 2007.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd,  2016.