[There was
no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, and the police said it was
too early to comment on a possible motive. But few doubted it was linked to Mr.
Ali’s work as a state prosecutor in some of the most sensitive cases in the
country, and his death reinforced the vulnerability of senior government
officials who challenge Islamist militants and other powerful interests.]
By Declan Walsh
 |
| The slain,Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali |
Assailants opened fire on the prosecutor, Chaudhry Zulfikar
Ali, as he drove to work from his home in a suburb of the capital, Islamabad,
for a court hearing in which the former military leader, Pervez Musharraf,
faces charges in relation to Ms. Bhutto’s death in 2007.
The police said that gunmen traveling by motorbike and in a
taxi sprayed Mr. Ali’s car with bullets, lightly wounding his bodyguard and
killing a woman who was passing by when his car veered out of control.
Television footage from the scene showed a bullet-riddled vehicle crashed by
the roadside.
Mr. Ali died before he reached a hospital in Islamabad,
where a doctor said he had been shot 13 times. The police said that Mr. Ali’s
bodyguard returned fire and managed to wound one of the attackers. The police
are searching for the attackers, all of whom escaped the scene.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
attack, and the police said it was too early to comment on a possible motive.
But few doubted it was linked to Mr. Ali’s work as a state prosecutor in some
of the most sensitive cases in the country, and his death reinforced the
vulnerability of senior government officials who challenge Islamist militants
and other powerful interests.
Mr. Ali represented the Federal Investigation Agency, which
has implicated Mr. Musharraf in the death of Ms. Bhutto, who was assassinated
in December 2007, just before the last election.
After the previous hearing in the Bhutto case on April 30,
Mr. Ali told reporters he had “solid evidence” that connected Mr. Musharraf
with Ms. Bhutto’s death.
Prosecutors and Bhutto supporters accuse Mr. Musharraf of
failing to provide adequate security to Ms. Bhutto after her return from exile
in October 2007. Mr. Musharraf, who has been questioned by investigators since
hisreturn from
exile in March, has
denied those accusations.
Since Mr. Musharraf’s return from exile in March, investigators have
questioned him about the security arrangements for Ms. Bhutto in 2007. He
insisted that, as head of state, he was not involved in administrative matters
such as security arrangements.
Mr. Ali was also involved in another sensitive case: the
trial of seven people from the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba charged with
involvement in the Mumbai attacks of November 2008, which killed more than 160
people.
Seven Lashkar activists have been on trial since 2009,
accused of orchestrating the slaughter from Pakistan, and one of the defendants
is the group’s operational leader, Zaki ur-Rehman Lakhvi. But the hearings have
been characterized by opacity and a lethargic pace.
The trial is taking place at Adila jail in Rawalpindi,
ostensibly on security grounds, and the media is barred from proceedings.
Hearings have been repeatedly adjourned because of the absence of lawyers or
the presiding judge.
Currently, defense lawyers are cross-examining the
prosecution witnesses. Mr. Ali was scheduled to appear in court on Saturday in
relation to the case.
Lashkar-e-Taiba was founded with help from the
Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, Pakistan’s spy agency, in the 1990s,
and its presumed leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, lives openly in the eastern city
of Lahore. The spy agency says it has cut all links with the group.
Mr. Ali’s death comes at a sensitive time, with Pakistanis
scheduled to go to the polls for a general election on May 11. Campaigning has
been marred by widespread Taliban violence against candidates from secular
parties.
In the latest attack, gunmen shot dead a candidate from the
secular Awami National Party, which has borne the brunt of attacks, along with
his 6-year-old son, in the port city of Karachi on Friday.
Although Islamabad suffered a number of militant attacks in
2008 and 2009, it has escaped major violence in recent years. But several
prominent figures have been assassinated on its streets, including the former
governor of Punjab Province, Salman Taseeer, and a minister for religious
affairs.
Mr. Musharraf, who returned from exile with a plan to run
for Parliament in a general election scheduled for May 11, faces charges in
several cases related to his time in power, including the murder of Ms. Bhutto,
the killing of a Baloch nationalist leader, and the firing of senior judges.
Mr. Musharraf, a retired general, has been disqualified
from contesting the election, and earlier this week a court banned him from
politics for life. He also faces possible treason charges.
In the court hearing in nearby Rawalpindi, lawyers for Mr.
Musharraf argued that he should be exempted from appearing in person in the
case, Pakistani television stations reported. The hearing was adjourned until
May 14.
Salman Masood contributed reporting from
Islamabad, Pakistan.
BANGLADESH ARRESTS ENGINEER WHO WARNED OF DANGERS
[The
authorities say 2,437 people have been rescued. Earlier, the Army announced
that 146 people were still missing, a number that drew broad public skepticism.
Hundreds of fliers of missing people are posted in Savar, and some people
believe that several hundred or more remain unaccounted for. The recovery
effort is expected to last at least several more days.]
By Jim Yardley And Julfikar
Ali Manik
The collapse of Rana Plaza, which housed five garment
factories employing more than 3,000 workers, is now considered the deadliest
accident in the history of the garment industry, with the death toll so far at
446 and many others still missing.
The arrest of the engineer, Abdur Razzaque Khan, was a
surprise twist since he was regarded as something of a hero for trying to avert
the April 24 disaster. A day before the building collapsed, Mr. Khan had been
summoned because cracks had suddenly appeared in the structure, forcing an
evacuation. He concluded that the building had become dangerous and should be
closed until experts could conduct a more thorough investigation — advice that
turned out to be grimly prescient.
His comments appeared the next morning in at least one
national newspaper. But the police say that the building’s owner, Sohel Rana,
and the factory owners are blaming Mr. Khan, saying he told them the cracks
were just a small problem. A police official said that Mr. Khan is being interrogated
to determine who is telling the truth.
The police have already arrested two engineers involved in
the building’s construction, along with Mr. Rana and the factory owners, who
ordered employees to work on the morning of the collapse. The disaster has
focused attention on safety conditions in the garment industry in Bangladesh,
now the world’s No. 2 clothing exporter, after China.
But it has brought growing scrutiny of the response by the
Bangladeshi authorities. Public suspicions about the death toll have become so
fevered that the Army general overseeing the rescue effort called a news
conference to denounce the rumors.
“Some quarters have alleged that bodies are disappearing,”
Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy told Bangladeshi reporters. “They are
fueling public anger by spreading rumors that actual casualties are
unbelievably high.”
The authorities say 2,437 people have been rescued.
Earlier, the Army announced that 146 people were still missing, a number that
drew broad public skepticism. Hundreds of fliers of missing people are posted
in Savar, and some people believe that several hundred or more remain
unaccounted for. The recovery effort is expected to last at least several more
days.
“Don’t listen to any rumors,” General Suhrawardy said. “We
would like to assure that we won’t leave the place until we rescue the last
body.”
On Thursday, the authorities also suspended the mayor of
Savar for his role in the disaster. He is accused of improperly granting
building permits to Mr. Rana, a political ally, and of failing to take
appropriate steps to close the building once the structural cracks had
appeared.