Benazir murder case: ATC summons Mark Siegel, 4 others

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court has summoned five witnesses including American journalist, Mark Siegel, to testify in the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto murder case here on Saturday, Geo News reported.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Yasin Farooq, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashfaq Anwar, Professor Dr Musaddiq, and Rescue 1122’s Dr Abd-ur-Rahman are the other four witnesses who have been served summons to appear before the court on January 5, 2013.

It must be mentioned that Siegel has already recorded his statement with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in this regard.

Moreover, the letter written to Interpol for the extradition of former president Gen (Retd) Prevez Musharraf also has the mention of the email sent to Mark Siegel’s by late Benazir Bhutto.

Mark Siegel, who has served as lobbyist for Benazir Bhutto in the U.S., had stated that he was with Benazir Bhutto in London when former President Pervez Musharraf called and threatened her. Musharraf had denied the allegations.

Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack and gunshots in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007 shortly after she addressed an election rally.

The then government of president Pervez Musharraf had blamed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the attack, but the charges were denied by the militants.

Five suspects are currently facing trial for Bhutto’s assassination.

Two police officers, assigned for the security of Benazir Bhutto, were also arrested on charges of negligence in providing security to Bhutto.

Investigators had earlier told the trial court that Mark Siegel had agreed to record his statement before the Pakistani court in the high-profile Benazir Bhutto murder case.

The FIA had already sought arrest warrants for Pervez Musharraf after he failed to appear before the court to record statement about his administration’s failure to provide security to late Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf has been living in exile, mostly in London and Dubai, since his resignation in 2008.

The FIA had formally made the statement of Mark Siegel a part of the Benazir murder case.

An FIA official had also visited Mark Siegel in the U.S. and had obtained his statement, which says that he was with Benazir Bhutto in London when Musharraf called her.

Mark Siegel gad also claimed that Musharraf had warned Benazir Bhutto that she should not land in Pakistan for contesting 2008 elections, and if she decided to come, she would have to face the music. Musharraf had warned her that his government would not give surety of her life in case she comes to Pakistan.