- In a dramatic U-turn, Pakistan government has "apologised"
for claiming that former premier Benazir Bhutto died of a skull fracture
after hitting the sunroof of her car during a suicide attack.
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- Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan has asked
the media and people to "forgive and ignore" comments made by
his ministry's spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema which were slammed by her
Pakistan People's Party as "lies" and led to an uproar at home
and abroad.
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- The Interior Minister made the apology during a briefing
for Pakistani newspaper editors on Monday. Punjab province on Tuesday
issued a front-page advertisement in newspapers that offered a reward
of Rs 1 crore for information about a gunman and a suspected suicide bomber
seen in the photos and video footage of the assassination.
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- The government's apparent damage control exercise on
Cheema's comments made at a news conference a day after Bhutto was assassinated
at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, came after TV channels aired
privately shot photos and video footage which showed a gunman shooting
at Bhutto.
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- The Pakistan People's Party leader is seen in the footage
falling through the sun-roof before the suicide bomber detonated his
explosives. The briefing by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro
was also attended by the foreign, interior and information ministers and
senior officials.
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- "Editor after editor lambasted the government for
its non-serious attitude towards the tragedy, specially the statement
that Bhutto had died by hitting the lever and not (due to) a bullet or
shrapnel," The News reported.
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- During the briefing, an editor asked why spokesman Cheema
had said that a lever on the sun-roof had caused a fatal injury when the
manufacturers of the car and Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari had stated
that there was no metallic lever that could have caused the wound.
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- Khan said the spokesman's comments may have been a mistake
as "we are faujis (soldiers) and we are not so articulate to present
our views as you journalists can". Both the interior minister and
spokesman Cheema are retired army officers.
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- "I am sorry if that happened and please forgive
us and ignore the comment," he told the editors. Earlier, Prime Minister
Soomro tried to defend the interior ministry's spokesman, saying he was
just relaying facts that had been told to him, especially about the cause
of death.
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- "We are conducting an investigation and all TV footage,
all evidence, that would be available will help in reaching a definite
conclusion," Soomro told the editors.
- But the editors asked more questions, especially with
reference to the medical report of doctors of Rawalpindi General Hospital
who treated Bhutto.
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- They "emphatically pointed out that the report quoted
by the spokesman never mentioned the cause of the head injury" to
Bhutto. The report only said there was a skull fracture which caused cardio-
pulmonary arrest, the editors pointed out. Soomro then referred the issue
to Interior Minister Khan. He explained in detail the security measures
taken and asserted that Bhutto had a bulletproof vehicle which could not
be damaged by a bomb or bullets.
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- Once she was inside it, she was secure and police vans
were trying to keep her car clear of other vehicles. But when she emerged
from the sun-roof she exposed herself to an attack, Khan said.
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- "Nothing would have happened to her even if every
one in the world had wanted to hurt her," the Minister added. Soomro
was repeatedly asked whether he would allow a foreign investigation into
the murder but he asserted that Pakistani experts were competent to do
the job.
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- His denial raised questions from the editors about the
offer made by President Pervez Musharraf to British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown to consider foreign help in probing the assassination.
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- Meanwhile, the advertisement issued by Punjab's Home
Ministry included two photos of the suspected assailant and the severed
head of the suspected bomber.
- "The public is hereby informed that the two individuals
in the above photographs are the accused terrorists in the Liaquat Bagh,
Rawalpindi terror attack, which resulted in the death of Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto and others," it said.
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- "The government of Punjab has announced a cash award
of Rs 1 crore for lead information and any solid evidence." The advertisement
said the names of persons providing any information would be kept "strictly
confidential". It also sought the cooperation of the people for "dismantling
of terrorist network".
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- http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?
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