TANK, Dec 29: Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud has denied any role in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Maulvi Umar, a spokesman for the militant leader, told Dawn by telephone on Saturday from an undisclosed location that the interior ministry statement was ‘defaming the Taliban movement.’

“Baitullah and his supporters are not involved in the murder of Ms Bhutto, because it is against tribal customs and traditions to kill a woman,” the spokesman claimed.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said at a press conference in Islamabad on Friday that Baitullah’s men had carried out the attack on Ms Bhutto.

Earlier, the government had blamed Baitullah for the suicide attack on Ms Bhutto’s reception rally in Karachi on Oct 18.