ISLAMABAD — Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed because she supported the Lal Masjid operation, an anti-terrorism court was told in Rawalpindi on Saturday. Magistrate Taufiq Ahmed, who had recorded confessional statements of accused Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Aitzaz Shah on February 13, 2008, said they told him that they wanted to kill only Benazir and because of the deaths of 23 other people in the attack, which they regretted, they would accept any punishment awarded to them.During the hearing of the Benazir assassination case in Adiala Jail, the magistrate read out the confessional statements before ATC Judge Shahid Rafique. According to the statements, the accused received Rs360,000 from Baitullah Mehsood while his associates, Abdullah alias Saddam and Qari Ismail, provided them two suicide bombers Saeed alias Bilal and Ikramullah. They purchased a pistol to be used by the suicide attacker because the plan was to kill Benazir near the stage during her rally in Liaqat Bagh on December 27, 2007. The accused, along with the suicide bomber, visited the venue on the night before the rally and took him to their residence in Quaid-i-Azam Colony in Rawalpindi.
The accused brought the bomber to the venue early in the morning only to learn that because of tight security arrangements, it was difficult to get inside and near the stage. Then they deployed the bomber in front of the gate of Liaqat Bagh and another attacker Ikramullah at another exit point.
After carrying out the crime, the accused reassembled near Fawara Chowk, Raja Bazar, and later went to their residence.