Pak’s ‘most wanted terrorist’ denies role
ISLAMABAD: Ikramullah, one of Pakistan’s most-wanted terrorists and named as the second suicide bomber of a cell that assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, has appeared in a Taliban video denying his involvement, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
Bhutto, 54, was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, as she left an election rally.
Ikramullah, who was then about 16 years old, is believed to have been a back-up Tehreek-etaliban-pakistan bomber who was meant to detonate his explosive vest if the first bomber did not succeed. Officials say he walked away after the other bomber blew himself up.
Ikramullah made his first public statement on the case in a video produced by a faction of the Pakistani Taliban which was obtained by the BBC. It is believed to have been filmed in eastern Afghanistan, where the militants are based.
Described as a “senior figure” in his group, Ikramullah repeatedly states in the video he was neither “involved” nor “aware of” the plot to kill Bhutto.
Until recently, Ikramullah was openly and proudly claiming his involvement. But last year he was attacked by other rival Islamists in Afghanistan, and his family received threats from the Pakistani security services, the BBC reported. As a result, it is believed he was advised by his group’s leaders to make a video denying his involvement.
The then leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, denied his group was responsible.
Earlier this year, a book published by the Pakistani Taliban’s main faction on the history of the group, acknowledged that despite earlier denials they had indeed carried out the attack, naming Ikramullah as the second suicide bomber. AGENCIES