Ex-Pak MI chief denies ordering washing-off Benazir’s assassination site

ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan Military Intelligence Director Major General Nadeem Ijaz has rubbished allegations that he had ordered subordinates to wash-off the crime scene at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh, where former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27,2007.

Ijaz submitted his statement along with some documents before three-member committee investigating the washing down of the incident site.

According to sources, other junior officials who have recorded their statement before the fact finding committee reiterated what they have already said before the UN inquiry commission.

“None of them said they had received orders from the Military Intelligence chief, but described it as a crowd management and public order measure taken after collection of necessary evidence material from the site,” sources said.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Chief (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is also expected to record his statement before the fact finding committee today (Friday), The Nation reports.

It is worth mentioning here that Kayani had assumed the charge of the Army Chief just a month before Benazir was killed in a gun and bomb attack.

While the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said it has no knowledge regarding Kayani recording his statement before the inquiry committee, sources said the possibility of the Army Chief submitting his statement could not be ruled out as the UN commission’s report over Benazir’s assassination had said that some unnamed sources pointed towards the involvement of some senior officials in hosing down the crime scene. (ANI)