ATC to hear Benazir Bhutto murder case daily

RAWALPINDI: The anti-terrorism court (ATC) hearing the Benazir Bhutto murder case decided on Monday to conduct daily proceedings in order to complete investigation of the matter at the earliest.

ATC Judge Mohammad Asghar made the decision while hearing the Benazir Bhutto assassination case. During the hearing, former Rawalpindi city police officer Saud Aziz and former Rawal SP Khurram Shahzad appeared before the ATC.

Federal Investigation Agency Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar also presented arguments before the court. The prosecutor will complete his arguments in the hearing tomorrow (Tuesday).

Nobody has yet been convicted or jailed for the Pakistan Peoples Party's assassination in a gun and suicide attack after a campaign rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.

The assassination came just weeks before general elections in February 2103, marking the first time that a civilian government completed a full-term in office and handed over power to another.

Then president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on then Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. 

In 2010 a UN report said Bhutto's death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf's government of failing to give adequate protection to the former premier.