Taliban threatens to assassinate Musharraf
Threat to kill exiled former president comes after Musharraf vowed Pakistan
return to contest in May elections.
Last Modified: 23 Mar 2013 09:44
Former military ruler Musharraf is ready to return for upcoming elections after
nearly five years in exile [AFP]
The Pakistani Taliban have reportedly threatened to assassinate former
President Pervez Musharraf when he returns to Pakistan from exile on Sunday to
contest elections.
The threat on Saturday came after Musharraf said he would return to Pakistan to
contest historic elections in May and that he was prepared to risk any danger
to his life.
"We have prepared a special squad of suicide bombers for Musharraf," Taliban
spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told the AFP news agency. "They will attack
Musharraf after he arrives Pakistan."
The threat was also made in a Taliban video obtained by Reuters news agency.
The video shows Adnan Rasheed, who took part in a previous attempt to
assassinate Musharraf, warning the ex-president on Pakistan return.
"The mujahideen of Islam have prepared a special squad to send Musharraf to
hell. There are suicide bombers, snipers, a special assault unit and a close
combat team."
Protective bail
Just hours after a Pakistani court granted him protective bail in a string of
legal cases on Saturday, Musharraf told the AFP news agency he would be back in
Pakistan by Sunday.
The court ruling paved the way for his return from nearly five years in exile
without the risk of immediate arrest.
He is wanted in Pakistan over the assassination of former prime minister
Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack after an election rally in
Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army, on December 27, 2007.
Commentators say most of his powerbase has evaporated and that he will only be
able to secure at the most a couple of seats for his All Pakistan Muslim League
party in the next national assembly.
"Two hundred percent! I am travelling back on Sunday to Pakistan," he told AFP
in Dubai, where he has divided his time with London.
"I will go by land, air or sea... even to the peril of my life this is the oath
I took for the country."
Musharraf seized power in a bloodless military coup when he was army chief of
staff in 1999 and left the country after stepping down in August 2008, when
Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, was elected president.
The outgoing government led by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party always insisted
that Musharraf would be arrested should be return to the country and last year
he delayed a planned homecoming after being threatened with detention.
Commentators believe that an interim government, set to guide the country
during the election campaign, should be in place by Sunday.
Source:
AFP
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