Closing In on Bhutto’s Killer

Although members of her Pakistan People’s Party remain skeptical, and although the late Benazir Bhutto herself might have disagreed, American and Pakistani intelligence officials believe that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud and his associates were behind the assassination of Bhutto in Rawalpindi last month.

The Los Angeles Times:

The CIA assessment concurred with that of Pakistani officials, who have said they believe that Mahsud was most likely behind the assassination, as well as an attack on Bhutto’s convoy in October, hours after she returned to Pakistan from a self-imposed eight-year exile.

But an associate of Bhutto’s said Thursday that her Pakistan People’s Party was deeply skeptical of the CIA’s assertions, especially when so little in the way of a forensic criminal investigation has been done. Party officials say that most, if not all, of the evidence in the case was destroyed by police and firefighters who hosed down the site within hours of the shooting and suicide attack, making it virtually impossible to gather evidence to help determine who else might have been involved.

“Whoever is now identified as responsible by state sources, we would need to know how they came to any conclusions, as we are uncomfortable with the cover-up that was done on the ground after Ms. Bhutto’s assassination,” the party official said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution by Pakistani officials.

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