Al-Qaida warlord denies he's behind Bhutto assassination

Published on Saturday 29 December 2007 10:42

A MILITANT warlord in Pakistan today rejected government claims that he was behind the assassination of former prime minister and popular leader Benazir Bhutto.

A spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud, described as the country's leading al-Qaida general, dismissed the allegations as "government propaganda".

"We strongly deny it. Baitullah Mehsud is not involved in the killing of Benazir Bhutto," the spokesman said.

"The government is levelling a baseless allegation and we think it is doing so to divert the attention of the people of Pakistan from the real killers."

Mehsud is the leader of the newly formed Tehrik-i-Taliban, a coalition of Islamic militants committed to waging holy war against the government.

The interior ministry yesterday released a transcript of a conversation between Mehsud and another militant in which he offered congratulations for the suicide attack.

"It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her," Mehsud said, according to the transcript.

However, his spokesman said that the militant coalition's enemy was America, not the political leaders of Pakistan.