Al-Qaeda claims it killed Bhutto, American spy in Pakistan

Al-Qaeda, the international terrorist network, has claimed responsibility for the killing of Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader and former prime minister of Pakistan. “We killed the American spy in Pakistan,” Aaj-TV channel quoted al-Qaeda militants as saying.

Photo: Al-Qaeda claims it killed Bhutto, American spy in Pakistan

Al-Qaeda claims it killed Bhutto, American spy in Pakistan

The information has not been officially confirmed yet.

Click here to see photos of Benazir Bhutto's burial

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko stated earlier that Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network might be involved in the hideous crime.

Benazir Bhutto was killed on December 27 in the afternoon. She died of lethal wounds which she had received in a terrorist act.

Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a post-colonial Muslim state. She was twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was sworn in for the first time in 1988 but removed from office 20 months later under orders of then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan on grounds of alleged corruption. In 1993 Bhutto was re-elected but was again removed in 1996 on similar charges, this time by President Farooq Leghari.

Bhutto went into self-imposed exile in Dubai in 1998, where she remained until she returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007, after reaching an understanding with General Musharraf by which she was granted amnesty and all corruption charges were withdrawn.

The whole world condemned the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. World leaders demanded that those responsible for the her death be tracked down and brought to justice.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf saying Bhutto's murder was "a challenge thrown down by forces of terrorism not only to Pakistan but also to the entire international community."

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, who met Bhutto earlier on Thursday in Islamabad, said he was "deeply pained" by the assassination of "this brave sister of ours, a brave daughter of the Muslim world"

"She sacrificed her life, for the sake of Pakistan and for the sake of this region," he said. "I found in her this morning a lot of love and desire for peace in Afghanistan , for prosperity in Afghanistan and ... Pakistan ."

Source: agencies

AP photo