Mark Siegel's statement a pack of lies, says Musharraf

Published October 2, 2015
The former president said that Benazir would not have approached him for security if she were scared of him. -AFP/File
The former president said that Benazir would not have approached him for security if she were scared of him. -AFP/File

ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has rejected the statement of American journalist and lobbyist Mark Siegel and termed it as a pack of lies, according to a statement released on Friday.

“I never made a phone call to Benazir Bhutto while she was in the United States,” said Musharraf.

The former president added that Benazir would not have approached him for security if she were scared of him.

“Mark Seigel’s statement is a conspiracy by anti-Pakistan elements and our enemies want to use the statement against Pakistan,” stated the former army chief.

Read: Musharraf threatened Benazir before her return to Pakistan: Mark Siegel

Musharraf questioned the validity of Seigel’s statement and remarked that if the statement were true, Seigel would have mentioned it in his book based on Benazir Bhutto.

The former president also expressed his astonishment regarding the repeated questioning of Mark Seigel.

A day earlier, Mark Siegel had testified before an anti-terrorism court that former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf had barred former prime minister Benazir Bhutto from coming back to Pakistan.

This he had stated while recording his statement with the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi in Benazir Bhutto assassination case via video link from the United States.

In his testimony, the American journalist had claimed he was with the former prime minister on September 25, 2007, when she had received a call from Musharraf “threatening her with dire consequences if she returned to Pakistan.”

Siegel had also added that Benazir sent him an important email after reaching Pakistan in which she had said “if something happens to her Musharraf should be held responsible for that”.

Bhutto was assassinated in a public gathering in a park in Rawalpindi on Dec 27, 2007. Siegel is a key prosecution witness in the case.

Also read: Mark Seigel’s testimony may be excluded from Benazir case

Siegel also alleges that the former military strongman was aware of the assassination plot, and was aware of the timing and personally ordered the destruction of evidence.

Siegel was an adviser and friend of late Benazir Bhutto, and was also a collaborator on her book “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West,” which completed days before her murder.

The high-profile case has lingered on in courts for almost five years now.

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