ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Monday again summoned US lobbyist Mark Siegel in Benazir Bhutto murder case.

During the hearing of the case on Monday, ATC judge Pervez Ismail Joeya directed Mr Siegel to appear before the court to record his statement on Tuesday.

However, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) – the prosecution agency in the high-profile murder case - expressed its inability to produce Mr Siegel, a witness against former president Pervez Musharraf. Sources in the FIA told Dawn that the American lobbyist cannot be produced before the court in such a short notice.

In January 2013, Mr Siegel refused to testify before the ATC citing security concerns.

The prosecution agency at that time had requested the court to record his statement through a video link.

ATC judge Pervez Ismail Joeya directs Mark Siegel to appear before the court to record his statement on Tuesday

The FIA sources said since the security situation in the country had improved, Mr Siegel may be asked to appear before the court.

The FIA would provide him adequate security during his stay in Pakistan, the sources added.

As per the joint investigation team (JIT) constituted to probe the murder case, Mr Siegel was the key witness against the former military ruler.

In his statement recorded before FIA’s JIT in 2009, Mr Siegel had accused Gen Musharraf of threatening Ms Bhutto about her safety and security in Pakistan.

According to the statement, Mr Siegel claimed that on September 25, 2007, in his presence at the office of Congressman Tom Lantos in Washington, Ms Bhutto received a telephone call which she later described as a very ‘bad call’ from Musharraf.

The statement said the former military ruler had warned Ms Bhutto that “her safety depends on the state of their (Musharraf and Benazir’s) relationship.”

Mr Siegel alleged that Musharraf had also warned Ms Bhutto that her security would only be guaranteed if she returned to Pakistan after the 2008 general elections.

According to Mr Siegel, Ms Bhutto sent him an email on October 26, 2007, in which she expressed her sense of insecurity. She also said if something happened to her, she would hold Musharraf responsible apart from individuals mentioned in her letter to Musharraf on October 16, 2007.

In the October 16 letter, Ms Bhutto named Brigadier Ejaz Shah (a former ISI official and the then director general of Intelligence Bureau), retired Lt-Gen Hameed Gul and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the then incumbent deputy prime minister.

FIA seeks action against its director

The FIA on Monday filed an application with the court against its director Yasin Farooq for backtracking from his statement recorded in the Benazir murder case against former city police officer (CPO) Saud Aziz. Mr Aziz is currently serving as the director general National Crisis Management Cell.

The ATC in January this year declared Mr Farooq as a hostile witness and discarded his testimony at the request of the prosecution after he changed his statement against Mr Aziz.

Mr Aziz was Rawalpindi police chief when Ms Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007. It was alleged that Mr Aziz had removed DSP Ashfaq Anwar who was assigned to Ms Bhutto’s security detail and also ordered the crime scene to be hosed down within a few hours, erasing credible evidence.

According to the prosecution, Mr Farooq had stated in 2010 that Mr Aziz sent DSP Anwar to the Islamabad Expressway where someone had opened fire on a convoy of Nawaz Sharif. The prosecution alleged that Anwar was responsible for Ms Bhutto’s ‘box security’ along with 36 commandos from the Elite Force. It said Mr Aziz removed him from Liaquat Bagh while the rally was in progress.

The prosecution contended before the ATC that Mr Farooq was a public servant and should not have disowned his earlier statement.

The court issued notice to Mr Farooq and adjourned further hearing of the matter till Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2015

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