Zardari questions Musharraf over Benazir's murder

Pak President takes on judiciary over tardy progress in the case

Irked by the tardy progress in the assassination case of his wife, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has questioned the failure of the judiciary to take action against Pervez Musharraf despite Benazir Bhutto holding the ex-military ruler responsible if she was killed.

In an interview to Geo TV, the President referred to an email his wife sent in October 2007 to US journalist Mark Siegel, a friend of the former premier, where she said that in case of her assassination Musharraf should be held responsible.

“He (Pervez Musharraf) will be responsible; he is part of the FIR. Why is the judge not taking actions against him?” Zardari was quoted as saying in his first interview since the military and the judiciary began pressuring the government over an alleged memo to the then top US Commander to help stave off a possible military coup in the country.

Asked why in his last speech in Sindh’s Garhi Khuda Buksh he drew attention of the Chief Justice of Pakistan towards the murder case of Bhutto, the President said the lower judiciary, which functions under the Chief Justice, was supposed to reach a judgement in the case.

Referring to the tardy prosecution of the case related to Bhutto’s assassination, Zardari had told a massive gathering on her fourth death anniversary: “I ask Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry what has happened to (Bhutto's) case? The courts are not under me."

The President also told Geo TV that the FIA had submitted the challans with the court and asked why four judges had been changed during the course of hearing.
Earlier during her Liaquat Bagh rally in Rawalpindi, Zardari gave Interior Minister Rehman Malik a clean chit, saying he was not responsible for her security.