With regards to perceived culpability in Bhutto’s assassination…

According to the Pakistani ISI, a telephone call was intercepted from Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal leader in Southern Waziristan, during which he congratulated another militant on Bhutto’s assassination. Given that conversation, the Pakistani Interior Ministry has concluded that Mehsud ordered the attack on Ms. Bhutto.

Added to this, a telephone confession was also reportedly made by Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid to Adnkronos International…

“A spokesperson for the al-Qaeda terrorist network has claimed responsibility for the death on Thursday of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen,” Al-Qaeda’s commander and main spokesperson Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone call from an unknown location, speaking in faltering English. Al-Yazid is the main al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan.”

At this stage I’m not going to rule out the possibility that information is conveniently finding its way into the ISI’s lap, nor that of various news agencies. While it is only speculation, al-Qaeda assassinating Ms. Bhutto provides the Musharraf regime with not only breathing room, but also a chance to seemingly avenge Bhutto’s death, which would certainly work in its favour with regards to international perceptions.

Since her assassination, rioting and unrest throughout Pakistan has resulted in some 31 deaths according to the BBC. Likewise, Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent has commented that despite the information being provided by the Pakistani Interior Ministry, it is too early to “establish the truth of what happened”, an assertion with which I agree.

In the email correspondence that I have had with Shaan Akbar, authour of The Insider Brief, he had this to say…

“Jihadists were definitely involved, they may have been AQ affiliates, that’s anyone’s guess. I think this was sort of a joint-operation between jihadists (who were largely a proxy) and a section of the establishment. When I say establishment, I specifically mean the PML-Q party leadership, led by the Chaudhry cousins, and the Intelligence Bureau, led by Brig. (retd.) Ejaz Shah.

We saw a weird intersection/allignment of their interests: Bhutto presented a threat to both of them. For the Chaudhries, who were brought to power by Ejaz Shah, Bhutto was the single biggest political threat. Her party was bound to be a major winner in parliamentary elections and the likely center of any coalition government. The jihadists knew that Bhutto’s return to power meant that there would be concrete action against them. So the result was this marriage of convenience between the two. And of course, Pakistan’s intelligence apparatus is no stranger to using jihadists as a policy tool.”