Pak Minister Hints Osama Behind Benazir Murder

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik has revealed that al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

"The assassins and perpetrators of Benazir Bhutto's murder have been identified. Some have been arrested while others have been declared proclaimed offenders," 'The Daily Times' quoted Malik, as saying.

"If party leadership will allow, I will disclose who they were, where the plan was prepared and how they came to Rawalpindi," he added.

Malik said that since the matter was subjudice he would not comment any further on the case.

Benazir was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack as she was leaving Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi after addressing a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rally on December 27, 2007.

It came two weeks before the scheduled Pakistani general election of 2008 in which she was a leading opposition candidate.

The following year, she was named one of seven winners of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.