Benazir's husband rejects govt's 'explosive' claims

CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD: Benazir's husband and children flew in from Dubai for the funeral.

          

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New Delhi: On Thursday, the world was shocked by the daring assassination of former Pakistan prime minister and dynastic scion Benazir Bhutto. Twenty-four hours later, Pakistan government added another twist to the tale, claiming the Pakistan People’s Party president was not shot but died of a head injury.

In a news conference held late on Friday night, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry spokesperson Javed Cheema said Benazir had no bullet injuries on her body as the shots fired at her missed her.

The government insists it was the impact of the suicide blast that resulted in her falling and hitting a lever of her vehicle’s sunroof. The medical report also says the fall resulted in a skull fracture and that caused Benazir’s death. The Pakistan government also released the video of her last moments.

“When she saw the crowd and people shouting slogans and cheering for her, she opened the sunroof of her vehicle and came out. She started waving to the crowd. The suicide bomber was on the left side of the vehicle. When she was waving there were three shots that were fired. So one could hear the three shots that were fired. But fortunately, none of the shots hit her. Then there was an explosion and the suicide bomber exploded himself. Due to the pressure of the shock wave, Benazir Bhutto fell down and tried to tug down into the vehicle. Unfortunately one of the levers on the left side of the sunroof hit her on the right side. It caused fractures in her scull and that, unfortunately, became the cause of her death,” Cheema said.

However, Benazir’s husband Asif Ali Zardari rubbished the government’s claim, blaming it for being negligent and accusing it of playing a “needless blame-game.”

Here’s an excerpt from an exclusive telephonic interview Zardari gave to CNN-IBN on the special show Remembering Benazir

CNN-IBN: How do you react to the Interior Ministry’s claims that Benazir was, in fact, not shot but died of a head injury?

Zardari: I think that’s their point of view but the party and the family doesn’t agree with it. Frankly speaking, they are trying to avoid the issue. We acknowledge there was a blast but first she was shot and then there was the blast. I have witnesses who were there were never questioned by Pakistan government. Frankly speaking, they don’t even have the capability. If they were to conduct a post-mortem, they will not even know the difference between a gunshot wound and a shrapnel wound. God forgive them for they know not.

CNN-IBN: The description given by Javed Cheema seems to suggest the theory of the suicide bomber was a fabricated one. The government seems to be saying there were no rifles used. What do you think is Pakistan government is trying to do by making these claims?

Zardari: I think Pakistan government is an incompetent bunch of people that does not know their front side from their backside and are adding twists to the tale unnecessarily. The fact is that Pakistan has lost its first-ever Muslim woman prime minister under their watch. We had appealed to them, written to them, asking them for security and special provision to get security personnel from international market. But they turned it all down.

CNN-IBN: It appears Pakistan government is attempting to put the onus of the incident on Benazir herself. They say had Benazir remained inside the car, nothing would have happened.

Zardari: Now that we have the tape, we can see she was standing and waving from sunroof. The point is that if you go to a political rally, security is supposed to be governmnet’s responsibility.

CNN-IBN: But the car was bomb-proof. Cheema says had she stayed inside she would have been safe.

Zardari: I designed her vehicle so I know it better than anyone else. The actual debate is that we have lost a famous personality. Instead of owning responsibility and admitting to their guilt, they (government) turn around and put the ball in other person’s court. They are playing a dirty game.