The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is planning to interrogate Pakistan”s former Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. This comes after former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf told interrogators that Malik had decided details of security for the Dec 27, 2007, public meeting in Rawalpindi where Bhutto was assassinated, reports The Dawn. FIA sources said that during interrogation Musharraf had denied his involvement in the murder and said Bhutto had been killed because of security breach for which Malik, being in-charge of her internal security, was responsible. Malik served as interior minister during the five-year PPP government and the FIA worked directly under him when it was tasked with investigation into the assassination of Benazir. The joint investigation team (JIT) was constituted by Malik and it never examined him in connection with the murder case. According to the sources, Musharraf said it was Malik”s responsibility to persuade Benazir not to come out of her bullet-proof car because police could not force her to remain inside. The JIT decided to record Malik”s statement in order to fulfil a legal requirement mandatory in such investigations. According to them, Musharraf also claimed that Malik was a mediator between his government and the PPP and he was negotiating with police for security arrangements for the Dec 27, 2007, public gathering at Liaquat Bagh. Benazir Bhutto and 23 other people were killed in a terrorist attack outside the park after the rally, although 1,371 policemen had been deployed for her security. (ANI)
