Shaukat Aziz denies association with Akbar Bugti killing

QUETTA: Former premier Shaukat Aziz has denied any association with the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, FTNews reported.

Sources told APNANews that Aziz sent a letter to the Balochistan government from Dubai.

A copy of the letter was also received by an investigation team of the police crime branch.

In his letter, Aziz said that constitutionally, the army could only act under the orders of the provincial government.

The letter moreover said that it was likely that the provincial government of the time was in contact with the then president Pervez Musharraf over the issue.

Musharraf was president and Aziz prime minister when Bugti died in a cave hideout during an army raid in August 2006.

Earlier, on November 1, the Balochistan High Court ordered the execution of arrest warrants issued by a judicial magistrate for Musharraf and Aziz in the Bugti murder case.

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Posted in: NATIONAL

SC issues notice to Ahmed Raza Kasuri in Bhutto reference

ISLAMABAD: During a hearing of the Bhutto reference case on Monday, the Supreme Court issued a notice to Ahmed Raza Kasuri, FTNews reported.

Moreover, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said the court could not declare anyone innocent or guilty in the case but could give its opinion under Article 186.

An 11-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar was hearing the case.

Chief Justice Iftikhar told the president’s counsel Babar Awan to understand the implications of the relief he was seeking and said the court could only go so far as to say that the trial was not fair.

He said the court was also take suggestions from judicial assistants over the presidential reference. The decision would set an example in the country’s judicial and national history, Chief Justice Iftikhar said.

Awan alleged that the arrest of Mahmood Kasuri became the starting point of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s killing.

He further said that Bhutto’s prosecutor Farooq Behzad had also accepted that Bhutto’s death was a ‘judicial murder’.

At which point, Chief Justice Iftikhar directed the judicial assistants to guide the court in issuing a notice to Kasuri.

Subsequently, the case’s hearing was adjourned to January 2.

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Posted in: NATIONAL

Khar chairs envoys meeting in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of Pakistan’s envoys to 15 countries was being held at the foreign ministry on Monday, FTNews reported.

Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shah were also reportedly present at the meeting chaired by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

The meeting was expected to review Pakistan’s foreign policy.

Earlier, APNANews quoted Khar as saying that the meeting would discuss Pakistan’s ties with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).

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Posted in: NATIONAL