Media watch: BB’s assassination briefing provides little perspective

Dawn declares Malik’s briefing “rambling and disjointed” - The Nation declares it "full of contradictions".

Today's top editorial topic was Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s Sindh Assembly briefing on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

The Express Tribune says Malik’s address to the Sindh Assembly “brings up some intriguing facts along with a lot of old hat”.

The paper goes on to say that:

“The revelation by Malik that former students of the Darul Uloom Haqqania does offer food for thought…the account given, provided that it is backed by sufficient evidence, should make us think harder about the role played even by the better known seminaries in our country.”

Dawn declares Malik’s briefing “rambling and disjointed” and says:

"taking up the investigation into the assassination of Ms Bhutto with seriousness of purpose ought to be something that can and should be attempted."

The paper adds that "playing politics with the death of Benazir Bhutto is a disservice to her memory."

The News says the briefing "directly points an accusing finger at General (r) Pervez Musharraf."

Bringing up the Darul Uloom Haqqania, the paper adds that the report "does raise questions about the possible scale of the plot and all the elements involved in it."

The Nation declared Malik’s briefing ‘full of contradictions’ and said the interior minister "failed to make the eager Pakistani, particularly her fans in the party, any wiser in that he unveiled virtually nothing new."

With regards to pinning the blame on Musharraf, the paper adds:

“The question is: How the Interior Minister would establish collusion between the self-exiled President and the militant outfits. It would hardly convince the man in the street, let alone an informed person, who is quite aware that General (retd) Musharraf was, in fact, fighting these outfits.”

Daily Times also agreed that “Malik did not reveal anything new as such.”

The paper adds that:

"Some people have observed that the Sindh Assembly resolution and Mr Malik’s briefing was an attempt at political point scoring in order to gain political capital. Given that the next general elections may be held in a few months time, this cannot be ruled out."