A militant leader in Pakistan who is reported to have links with al-Qaeda Saturday denied involvement in former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination.
The News Network International (NNI) news agency quoted Mauli umar, spokesman for militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, as saying that they were not involved in Bhutto's death.
Mauli umar said that they were sad at Bhutto's death and did not have enmity with Pakistani leaders but the United States.
The interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said Friday at a news briefing that al-Qaeda attacked Benazir Bhutto and was responsible for her death.
"We have tapped a telephonic conversation of al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, with a Maulana in which they congratulated each other on the killing of Ms. Bhutto," Cheema said.
Cheema disclosed that Bhutto was on the hit list of al-Qaeda and she received death threats from the group since her return in October.
However, a Pakistan People's Party (PPP) spokesman Farhatullah Babar rejected the claim of the interior ministry and called for an independent inquiry into the assassination by international experts.
Bhutto was killed in an suicide attack on Thursday.
Source: Xinhua
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