Nawaz Sharif met Osama five times, says ex-ISI official

Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has met al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden five times, says a former official of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), a claim hotly denied by Sharif's party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Speaking in ARY news programme Eleventh Hour, the former ISI official and now chairman Defence of Human Rights organisation Khalid Khwaja claimed he had arranged meetings between Laden and Sharif on Laden's request and the PML-N chief had held five meetings with the al-Qaeda chief so far.

"I challenge the deniers of such meetings and can present solid evidences in this respect," Khwaja was quoted as saying by ARY News on Wednesday.

He said hopefully Sharif would not "tell a lie" in this regard.

Khwaja said he had met the al-Qaeda chief more than a hundred times "but not after the 9/11 incident".

However, PML-N has termed the claims of the head of Defence of Human Rights organisation as baseless.

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US overlooked Pak nuke program, bomb was ready in 1983: Khan

Pakistan's nuclear program was overlooked by the US in its initial year as Islamabad got involved in the Afghan war against Soviet

Union, which resulted in making the bomb in a quick period of six years, A Q Khan, the maligned Pakistani nuclear scientist, has said.

"I maintain that the war had provided us with space to enhance our nuclear capability," the Pak nuclear scientist said in an interview to a Pakistani Urdu television channel.

"The credit (for the nuclear bomb) goes to me and my team, because it was a very difficult task, almost next to impossible. But given the US and European pressure on our program, it is true that had the Afghan war not taken place at that time, we would not have been able to make the bomb as early as we did," Khan told the Aaj News Television.

The interview with Khan, who was recently released from house arrest, was broadcast in Karachi on August 31. It was translated from Urdu by the Directorate of National Intelligence's Open Source Center.

The translated interview has not been publicly released, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

Khan, put under house arrest by the previous Musharraf regime from which he was released early this year, said, “Pakistan was ready to test a nuclear weapon just six years after it first began to enrich uranium.”

"It was 6 April 1978 when we achieved our first centrifugal enrichment of uranium. We had achieved 90% (enrichment) by early 1983," he said.

"I wrote a letter to General Zia on 10 December 1984, telling him that the weapon was ready and that we could detonate it on a notice of one week," Khan said. “But Zia decided against testing the bomb.”

"We were allying with the United States in the Afghan war. The aid was coming. We asked Gen Zia and his team to go ahead with the test, but they said they could not conduct the test as it would have serious repercussions. They argued that since the United States had to overlook our nuclear program due to our support in the Afghan war, it was an opportunity for us to further develop the program. They said the tests could be conducted any time later," Khan said, according to the translation of the transcripts of the interview.

In addition to a timeline for the Pakistani nuclear weapons program, Khan in his interview also discussed the costs and logistics involved, and his successful efforts to evade export controls. "They could not outmanoeuvre us, as we remained a step ahead always," he said.

"Since I had been living in Europe for 15 years, I knew about their industry and suppliers very well. I knew who made what. When I came to Pakistan, I started purchasing equipment from them until they proscribed the selling of equipment to us. Then we started purchasing the same equipment through other countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore," Khan said.

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Pak ex-MP says he met Mehsud to plot against India

A former parliamentarian known for his links with militant groups on Saturday made the startling claim that the Pakistan government had deputed him to hold secret talks with slain Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud on forging "unity against India" in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

Shah Abdul Aziz, who was arrested in July on charges of being linked to the abduction and killing of Polish engineer Piotr Stanczak by the Taliban, made the revelation in an interview with a TV news channel two days after he was freed from prison on bail.

Aziz said senior officials of Pakistan's interior ministry sent him to meet Mehsud after the Mumbai attacks in November last year.

He said the officials asked him to convince the slain Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief to show "unity against India" amidst heightened tensions between the two countries.

The former member of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament said he met Mehsud along with a 15-member delegation of 'ulema' or Islamic scholars from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Aziz said he stayed in Makeen area of South Waziristan, a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, for three days to convince Mehsud but the militant commander was not ready to accept the delegation's views.

Mehsud finally agreed to back the government in case of any offensive by India when Aziz and the delegation rejected his offer to join him for a meal.

"It is a tradition of Pashtuns that they do not make their guests angry at a meal," Aziz said.

Following this, Mehsud issued statements to international media organisations like CNN and BBC and the Pakistani media that his Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan would fight alongside the Pakistan Army against Indian forces in spite of its differences with the military and the government.

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16 killed in blast in Pak madrassa used as bomb-making factory

At least 16 people, including several children, were killed and 120 others injured on Monday when a powerful explosion in Mian Channu near Multan flattened a madrassa, which was being used to make bombs, officials said.

The blast, which occurred shortly before 10 am local time in the village near Mian Channu in southern Punjab, was caused by explosives stored in the home of madrassa teacher Riaz Ali, local residents said.

Ali was a member of a banned religious group, officials said.

Police and rescue service officials told reporters that 16 people, including several children, were killed in the blast, which also destroyed dozens of houses.

Muhammad Yousuf Soomra, health officer of Khanewal district, said the toll could rise as more bodies were feared to be buried under the rubble of collapsed homes.

It was not immediately known what triggered the blast. Rescue workers found parts of shells and bombs, grenades, rockets and suicide jackets in the rubble of the madrassa.

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I want to write a letter to Mecca: Kasab

Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab surprised everyone in the special court on Friday when he said he wanted to write a letter to

an unspecified recipient in Mecca.

Towards the end of the day's court proceedings, Kasab stood in the dock and told judge M L Tahaliyani, "Sir, mujhe ek lifafa chahiye (sir, I want an envelope)."' He said he wanted to write a letter to Saudi Arabia. When asked if he had any relatives there, Kasab replied in the negative.

On further probing, Kasab said he wanted to write to Mecca, but could not specify to whom it would be addressed or its purpose. Tahaliyani then asked him to consult his lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, and file a detailed plea on Monday.

When he was first taken to the Arthur Road jail, Kasab had expressed a desire to speak to his family. Earlier, he had requested the Pakistani authorities to provide him with a lawyer. "I am not sure who he wants to write to this time. I will have to speak to him and find out,'' Kazmi said.

On Friday, special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam examined IPS officer Sadanand Date, who had rushed to Cama Hospital during 26/11. Date, who was injured in the attack, said he reached the spot with seven policemen and was involved in a fierce battle with the terrorists on the terrace of the building.

Date also recalled how the terrorists kept lobbing grenades at the cops. Inspector Prakash More and constable Vijay Khandekar were killed in the attack. Date and his men were successful in saving the lives of people stuck on the terrace.

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Terrorists may be using Pak satphones to plot against India

ROME: Fresh evidence of continued collusion of Pakistan's official agencies with terrorist groups plotting attacks on India has cast a shadow on

resumption of full-scale talks between the estranged neighbours.

According to sources, state actors in Pakistan were seeking to help terrorist groups using Thuraya satellite phones to plot attacks on India by camouflaging the location of the phones.

The deception game, spoofing in intelligence parlance, involves setting up transmitters near the terrorist bases to block the signals from Thuraya sets which can help pinpoint location of the users. The transmitters cannot be set up or remain hidden to Pakistan's own agencies.

The finding shows Pakistan has failed to meet the condition set by India — credible steps to punish those responsible for the Mumbai terror attack and to destroy terrorist infrastrucuture — for the resumption of the composite dialogue.

Thuraya phones are preferred by anti-India terror groups because they are not licenced to be sold in the country and, therefore, their logs cannot be readily accessed by its agencies.

During the investigation into the 26/11 attack, India got around the problem with US help to get details of satellite phones used by the perpetrators of the atrocities — LeT's Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi and others. The Americans had then used their leverage with UAE authorities to help India procure logs of the satellite phones, stored at Thuraya's Master Control Facility at Sharjah, to establish the presence of the terror masterminds on Pakistani soil.

The use of transmitters will, however, render a repeat of the success impossible, helping terrorists to mask their footprints, and Pakistan to profess innocence. The determination comes at a time when India faces the most serious threat in two years, and can set back prospects of the restoration of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan.

Pakistan has been pressing for resumption of full-fledged dialogue which was paused exactly one year ago after the attack on Indian embassy in Kabul.

It is likely to make a strong pitch for this when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani on July 16 on the sidelines of the NAM summit in Egypt.

India insists that Pakistan must bring the 26/11 plotters to justice and take credible steps to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil as the pre-condition for the revival of the dialogue process. It refuses to discuss anything else with Pakistan till the latter complies. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put across the bottomline dramatically and in public to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia last month.

But the spoofing points to Pakistan’s continuing reluctance to proceed against terrorist groups targeting India from its soil.


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US worried about Zardari's control over N-arsenal

Several US officials have expressed concern over reports that PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari, who was diagnosed with mental problems as late as last year, will have partial control over Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if elected president, a media report said on Monday.

Though Zardari's spokespersons contend that he had been cured, the American officials were wary of Zardari having a partial control over Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if elected to the post in the September six presidential polls, Newsweek reported.

"Typically (the US) would not want that kind of person involved in a nuclear chain of command," said Pete Hoekstra, ranking Republican on the US House Intelligence Committee.

Doctors hired by Zardari had reportedly diagnosed him with problems like including dementia, depression and post traumatic stress disorder.

Lawyers for Zardari, the report noted, argued in London's High Court that he was too ill to testify in corruption-related cases, and they submitted recent mental health evaluations as evidence.

In March 2007, the Financial Times reported, New York psychologist Stephen Reich concluded Zardari was "chronically anxious and apprehensive" and had thoughts of suicide, though he had not acted on them.

The newspaper wrote that a New York psychiatrist, Philip Saltiel, found that Zardari's long imprisonment in Pakistan while facing corruption probes had left him with "emotional instability" as well as memory and concentration problems.


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Pak film Ramchand Pakistani set to create history

A Pakistani film about a boy who inadvertently strays into Indian territory will be the first ever to premiere simultaneously in both countries whose ties are often strained, the film's Pakistani producer said.

Ramchand Pakistani, inspired by a real-life incident, examines the emotional turmoil of an eight-year-old boy and his father after they cross into India and are jailed, while the mother in Pakistan is left waiting to see their fate.

The film's release in India and Pakistan on August 1 will be a rare event considering political rivalry has limited cultural interaction between the two nations.

"It is a very rare example of creative constructive collaboration between both countries," producer Javed Jabbar said at a press conference on Sunday, a day after the film was screened at the Osian's Cinefan film festival in New Delhi.

Jabbar, whose daughter Mehreen directed Ramchand Pakistani, said Pakistan allowed filming to take place close to sensitive border areas in southern Sindh province while India let the crew visit a jail in western Gujarat state to maintain "visual and narrative authenticity".


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No safe exit, Musharraf should be punished: Sharif

Islamabad, June 14: Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday that President Pervez Musharraf must be held accountable for all his actions as thousands of protestors gathered near the Islamabad parliament to demand the restoration of judges sacked by the embattled ex-military ruler.

In a show of strength, about 20,000 protestors assembled on Friday night at a ground located a stone's throw from parliament and the Presidency to demand the reinstatement of the judges deposed during the 2007 emergency.

Amidst the chanting of slogans like "Go Musharraf go" and "Hang Musharraf", the crowd was addressed by top leaders like Sharif, Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan and Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan.

"Listen Pervez Musharraf," Sharif said in his emotional speech. "We had said that you should accept the people's verdict (in the February 18 general election) and give up your post and go home with dignity. You did not accept the people's decision."

"Now the people have given a new judgement for you -- they want you to be held accountable," he said as the crowd chanted "Hang Musharraf".

Sharif added: "Mr Musharraf, the people's jirga does not want just your removal. You must account for all your actions over the past eight and half years. You cannot be given a safe exit."

Though lawyers, students, workers of PML-N, Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehrik-e-Insaf and civil society activists began gathering last evening, Sharif and the other leaders addressed the protestors early this morning, after which they dispersed.

The PML-N chief said, "Everything will be achieved if the judges are restored." He made the people pledge that they would not rest and that they would not let anyone else rest till the judges are restored.

Sharif also questioned the ruling Pakistan People's Party's failure to reinstate the deposed judges in keeping with an agreement signed in March by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif to form the ruling coalition.

"I can't understand why that agreement was not acted upon," he said. The "long march" of the lawyers' movement from different parts of the country to Islamabad and the rally represented a "new ray of hope for Pakistan" that would lead to the "restoration of the constitution, law and judges and the burial of dictators once and for all", Sharif said.

Imran Khan, who was among the first leaders to address the rally at around midnight, said there is no place in the superior judiciary for judges who had sworn allegiae said.
nce to Musharraf. The independence of the judiciary is not possible in the presence of these judges,

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Chargesheet framed to impeach Musharraf

Islamabad, June 10: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N has framed a 10-point chargesheet to press for the impeachment of embattled President Pervez Musharraf, urging its allies in ruling coalition to move against the former military strongman if he does not resign. The chargesheet alleges that Musharraf imposed martial law twice, subverted the constitution and violated the oath taken by him as army chief. The retired General kept former premier Nawaz Sharif behind bars, detained judges of Supreme Court along with their families and imposed dictatorship at gunpoint, it states.
The document states Musharraf planned and undertook the "Kargil misadventure", concealing it from the elected government of the time and sacrificing 800 officers and men of the Pakistan Army in the process.
It alleges that Musharraf used the army as his "personal force", tried to corrupt it and promoted his blue-eyed officers. He used the army for unconstitutional and illegal actions meant to prolong his rule, affecting the credibility of the force, it states.
Musharraf also pushed the army into an "undeclared war against its own people without seeking approval from the Prime Minister, cabinet and parliament", which resulted in the killing of over 1,000 army personnel.
Suicide bombings in reaction to this move claimed the lives of a large number of Pakistanis, the chargesheet states. It accuses Musharraf of blackmailing and subjecting people to torture and abuse and using the National Accountability Bureau to form a political party.
It further alleges Musharraf got Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti "killed in cold blood".
Thousands of Baloch political workers were made "victims of enforced disappearance" with their kin still unaware of their whereabouts. Baloch leaders, including Akhtar Mengal, were implicated in false cases and jailed, it alleges.
The charge sheet states the Lal Masjid in Islamabad was attacked on "the pressure of external powers, resulting in the death of hundreds of innocent boys and girls".
Over 650 people "illegally picked up from different parts of the country were handed over to the US in return for dollars", it alleges. The charge sheet also accuses Musharraf of setting "new examples of cronyism, nepotism, corruption and favouritism".
Unveiling the chargesheet on Sunday, PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan alleged Musharraf made billions of rupees as his close associates got massive contracts from state-run firms. He also allegedly earned billions of rupees from defence deals.
Khan said these were not mere allegations as substantial evidence is available that could be presented in parliament during impeachment proceedings. Khan opposed the idea of giving Musharraf a safe exit and said he should be tried for treason

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Pakistan seeks early settlement of Kashmir issue

Islamabad (PTI): Hoping for an "era of peace" in South Asia, Pakistan on Friday said an early and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue with India in line with the "aspirations" of the Kashmiri people will help the two countries achieve their full potential.
Pakistan government is "committed to improving relations with India so as to usher in an era of peace in the region," Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said during an interaction with veteran Indian journalist and parliamentarian Kuldip Nayar at the Prime Minister's House.
"An early and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute in keeping with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir will help Pakistan and India to achieve their full potential," Gilani told Nayar.
He noted that it was "no coincidence that relations between the two countries always improve when a civilian government is in place in Pakistan".
Gilani said his government would continue to take up more confidence-building measures (CBMs) to further improve bilateral ties in different fields.
"People-to-people contacts will also be increased to achieve the objective," he said.

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Miss Pakistan loves Mush, wants a date with him

Lahore: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf might have been pushed to the backseat after the new democratic government took over in Islamabad, but he still seems to rule over the hearts of his countrymen, particularly the women.

Miss Pakistan World 2007 Mahleej Sarkari, declared in a TV programme that she loves him and wants to go out for a date with the President.

“I love Musharraf, I love Musharraf, I love Musharraf, and it would be an honour and privilege for me to meet him in person and talk to him. I like the President because he has a charming personality and a charisma that attracts me towards him,” the Daily Times quoted her as saying.

Mahleej comes from the province of Balochistan, which according to her, was a comparatively underdeveloped where girls are denied education and she is a witness to that.

Mahleej said: “In President Musharraf’s tenure women of Pakistan have been given a lot of rights. His contribution towards building a better image of Pakistan throughout the world has turned me into a huge fan of his. I truly admire, respect and love him for all he is worth.”

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Two killed in Pakistan nuke plant gas leak

Islamabad, April 8: A gas leak at a key Pakistani nuclear plant Tuesday killed two workers but there was no threat to the public as the situation was immediately brought under control, authorities said.

The leak occurred at the heavy water research reactor complex at Khushab in Punjab province at 2.30 pm (local time), the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) said in a statement.

The situation was immediately brought under control and two workers lost their lives while controlling the incident, it said. The leak was controlled by the plant's safety and fire protection division.

The plant was undergoing annual maintenance and had been shut down at the time of the incident, the statement said.

"There is no threat to public life as all the (leaked) gas has been burnt in the flare system of the plant," said the statement.

All necessary steps were taken to protect the plant, including the evacuation of personnel as a precautionary measure in accordance with standard operating procedures.

State-run PTV reported there had been a gas leak at the PAEC plant and said employees living in an adjacent colony were shifted to a safer place as a precautionary measure.

The PAEC said orders had been issued for an inquiry to find out the causes of the incident.

The heavy water research reactor in Khushab is a key element in Pakistan's programme for producing plutonium and tritium for nuclear warheads.


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Pakistan first women speaker:Fahmida Mirza

ISLAMABAD: Fahmida Mirza of the Pakistan People’s Party was elected the Speaker of the National Assembly on Wednesday by more than two-thirds of the House.
The Assembly was prorogued after the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, and will meet again for the election of the Prime Minister. It is expected that President Pervez Musharraf will convene the Assembly early next week for this purpose.
Yousuf Raza Geelani, a PPP stalwart from Multan in southern Punjab, has again emerged as the front-runner for the premiership.
In a surprise development, PPP chairman Bilawal Zardari Bhutto arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday from the U.K., where he is a student at Oxford.
Farzana Raja, a PPP spokeswoman, told journalists that he would announce the name of the party’s prime ministerial candidate on the day of the election.
Mr. Bilawal headed straightaway to his mother Benazir’s grave at Garhi Khuda Baksh in Sindh, and is expected here on Thursday.
The PPP apparently believes that after a bruising battle for the premiership within the party, the announcement of the name by Benazir’s son may be more acceptable to all sections of the party.
His sudden arrival has certainly added more drama to the guessing game about the Prime Minister.
In an indication that party vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim still hopes to come in from the cold for the premiership stakes, his speech in the Assembly congratulating Dr. Mirza on her election also made reference to party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari as “a friend of friends” who “keeps every promise he makes.”
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Convening of Pakistan's new parliament

Pakistan's new parliament convenes Monday, setting the stage for a power struggle between U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf and a new coalition government that has vowed to assail his already diminished powers.
At stake are the future course and political stability of this nuclear-armed nation of 160 million people, which is struggling with economic problems and rising Islamic militancy at a time when the United States is counting on its assistance in the war on terror.
In the latest attack, a bomb Saturday exploded in an Italian restaurant crowded with foreigners in the capital, Islamabad, killing a Turkish woman and wounding 12 other people, including five Americans.

The string of attacks have led many Pakistanis to question Musharraf's alliance with the United States.

Parliamentary elections last month in which Musharraf's allies were routed illustrated the growing unhappiness with the former general, who dominated Pakistan's politics during eight years of military rule before quitting the army in November. He remains president, with sweeping powers to dismiss the parliament and prime minister.

But the transition to democracy promises to be politically turbulent as Musharraf maneuvers to cling to the presidency amid the ambitions of the new civilian leaders.

Voters want lawmakers to quickly dismantle Musharraf's "one-man system" and focus their energy on bringing down double-digit inflation and tackling terrorism, said Mehdi Hasan, a prominent political analyst.

"But I am not optimistic," Hasan said, noting that Pakistan's 60-year history is littered with failed political dawns. "It will take great efforts for the leaders of the parties to adjust and accommodate each other."

The outgoing speaker of the National Assembly will swear in the newly elected lawmakers Monday. Parliament will only get down to the real business of lawmaking once the new government takes office later in the month.

The parties set to lead it, however, have already outlined a set of priorities that will make for uncomfortable news to Musharraf and his Western backers.

The party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto won the most seats in the election. It plans to form a coalition with the party of another former premier, Nawaz Sharif, and a smaller party from the northwest - where Taliban-style militants pose an increasing threat.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party has said its top priority will be to seek a U.N. investigation into her death in a gun-and-suicide-bomb attack on Dec. 27.

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Blast outside Lahore High Court, 22 killed

A powerful bomb exploded near a police post and the high court in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday, killing twenty two people on the spot and injuring many. It is stated that the casualties may go up.

More than 30 people, many of them police officers, were injured in the explosion in the city's main commercial district. Several of the victims were seen lying motionless in the street.

The blast ripped through a busy square in front of the Lahore High Court, where police were gathering ahead of a protest by the city's lawyers against the rule of President Pervez Musharraf.

"We don't know the exact number but at least seven people have been killed. That number may rise," said senior city police officer Aftab Cheema. The target appeared to be policemen outside the court, witnesses said.

It comes two weeks after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide bomb attack in the northern city of Rawalpindi, amid a wave of militant violence across the country.

It is suspected that the bomb was planted in a bi-cycle and it ripped the gathering of lawyers who were preparing for a rally. Surprisingly, the blasts which rocked the courts in Uttar Pradesh were very similar to the blast in Lahore. In UP also the bombs were planted in a bi-cycle.

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Osama paid $10 million to ISI to overthrow Benazir's govt

In one of her last media interviews, slain former premier Benazir Bhutto had voiced fear that she may be targeted by terrorists and went on to urge US President George W Bush to reverse the pro-Musharraf policies which were "breaking up" Pakistan.

"I am what the terrorists most fear," she had said in the interview with Parade magazine, "a female political leader fighting to bring modernity to Pakistan. Now they're trying to kill me."

Asked what she would you like to tell President Bush, the Pakistan People's Party leader had said that she would say propping up Pervez Musharraf government, which is infested with radical Islamists, is only hastening disaster.

"I would say, 'Your policy of supporting dictatorship is breaking up my country.' I now think al-Qaida can be marching on Islamabad in two to four years."

The interview with Parade magazine, which is distributed as an insert with many American newspapers like the Washington Post, the Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times, was recorded just days before the former premier was killed in an attack in Rawalpindi on December 27.

The magazine went to print on December 21. Bhutto had also said the Pakistani army decided to overthrow her in 1996 after she announced plans to crack down on terrorism.

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Bhutto killing: Scotland Yard team arrives in Pak

team from Britain's Scotland Yard arrived in Islamabad on Friday to help Pakistani authorities probe the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, a day after President Pervez Musharraf said he was "not fully satisfied" with the investigation done so far.

The small team from the Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Command will meet officials from Pakistan's Interior Ministry to discuss modalities of the probe and to be briefed on the investigation conducted so far.

The Interior Ministry has also asked the Special Investigation Group, the anti-terror wing of the Federal Investigation Agency that is helping in the probe into Bhutto's killing in Rawalpindi on December 27, to extend assistance to the British team.

This is the third time that British police expertise has been sought by Pakistan to investigate a high-profile political assassination in the country. But in the two earlier instances, the British teams were asked to leave Pakistan before their completed their probe.

The first inquiry was conducted in the aftermath of the 1951 assassination of Pakistan's first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, who was incidentally shot at the same site as Bhutto. The British team was asked to leave Pakistan before its inquiries were complete and the case was closed.

A second British police team was sent to Karachi in 1996 to investigate the murder of Bhutto's estranged younger brother and political rival, Murtaza.

Bhutto was then the prime minister and her administration enlisted the services of Scotland Yard detectives and Home Office forensic experts.

Within six weeks of the killing, Bhutto's government was sacked for alleged corruption. The Scotland Yard team was then ordered to leave Pakistan with its investigation incomplete.

During an interaction with the international media on Thursday, Musharraf said he was "not fully satisfied" with the investigation so far.

He said the police should not have washed the site where Bhutto was attacked as this would have destroyed evidence but noted that this was done due to "inefficiency" and not "by design".

He also indicated that the Interior Ministry should not have issued any definite statement about the cause of Bhutto's death.

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'I bathed Bhutto's body, saw bullet wound'

A close aide to Benazir Bhutto said on Saturday she saw a bullet wound in the Pakistani Opposition leader's head when she bathed her body after her assassination.

Bhutto's spokeswoman Sherry Rehman, who said she was in the former Premier's motorcade at the time of the gun and suicide attack, rejected government claims that the death was caused when Bhutto's head hit her sunroof.

"I was actually part of the party which bathed her body before the funeral," said Rehman, who added that her car was used to transport Bhutto to hospital.

"There was a bullet wound I saw that went in from the back of her head and came out the other side. We could not even wash her properly because the wound was still seeping. She lost a huge amount of blood," she said.

Rehman accused the government of mounting a cover-up over Bhutto's death.


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Pak 'unaware' of Qaeda claim over Benazir killing

Pakistan's Interior Ministry said on Friday it was "unaware" of Al-Qaeda claiming a link to Benazir Bhutto's killing but said "extremist elements" behind a wave of attacks this year could be responsible.

Asked about a report on Pakistan's ARY TV network that the militant group founded by Osama bin Laden was to blame for Thursday's assassination, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Cheema said the government did not know about that claim.

But he said the likely culprits were "the same extremist elements who have been perpetrating acts of terrorism in the country in the past."

Pakistan has repeatedly said Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked groups are behind the unprecedented wave of attacks this year that has left more than 800 people dead.

President Pervez Musharraf blamed Al-Qaeda when he survived two assassination attempts in 2003 in Rawalpindi, the same town where Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide attack.

Pakistan said Al-Qaeda number three Abu Farj Al-Libbi was the mastermind of the attacks on Musharraf. He was arrested in 2005 and handed over to the United States.

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