Five-member squad assigned to kill Bhutto: Pak police

A five-member squad of militants was assigned the task of targeting slain former premier Benazir Bhutto because she might have allowed foreign forces to act against mujahideen and Taliban if she came to power in Pakistan's general election, a top police official said on Wednesday.

This was disclosed by two men, Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat, who were arrested for alleged involvement in Bhutto's assassination, said Additional Inspector General of Police Abdul Majeed, who is heading the special police team probing the opposition leader's killing.

"The motive behind the attack was that Mohtarma Bhutto was coming back to Pakistan with the backing of foreign powers, and if she won the polls, she may have allowed foreign forces to take action against the mujahideen and Taliban," Majeed said.

Addressing a press conference late on Wednesday after Gul and Rafaqat recorded their confessional statements before a judicial magistrate in Rawalpindi, Majeed said Bhutto's assassination was planned in November last year.

Majeed identified the two suicide attackers who were part of the five-member squad as Bilal alias Saeed and Ikramullah.

Bilal was the man who fired shots at Bhutto after she addressed an election rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27 and then blew himself up near her armoured car, he said.