Taseer's assassination probe: Two police officials suspended

Tribune

ISLAMABAD / RAWALPINDI: The Superintendent Police (SP) headquarter Rawalpindi on Friday was asked to give a detailed explanation for ignoring a letter indicative of a potent threat to Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer as two other police officials were suspended during probes in thelate governor’s assassination.

A letter had reportedly been sent to the Rawalpindi police from Lahore indicating that the murderer Mumtaz Qadri did not have the security clearance for VIP security. The letter, officials say, did not reach the concerned authorities in time.

Resident Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Mukhtar Gondal has suspended Inspector Khalid Satti and Sub-inspector Ajaib of the security branch. The SP headquarter has also been ordered to give explanation in this regard.

A three member inquiry team constituted by the Punjab government also arrived in Islamabad to conduct its probe into Salmaan Taseer’s assassination.

The team will record the statements of Taseer’s assassin Mumtaz Qadri and other officials of his security convoy. Police officials who recommended Qadri’s inclusion in Taseer’s security convoy will also be questioned. The team will visit the murder spot at Kohsar Market in Sector F-63.

Meanwhile, the medical board conducting Qadri’s check-up has found no marks of torture on his body. The board has handed its report to the police and the district administration.

A psychological checkup by a five-member team of doctors headed by Dr Tanvir Khaliq was also carried out at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad on Thursday. The doctors declared Qadri mentally fit.

The medical board is expected to re-examine Qadri again in five days.

‘Dirty hands’ behind Taseer’s murder will be exposed: Zardari

Daily-Times
LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday called the widow of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer by telephone and expressed his sorrow and grief over his murder.

According to the party sources, President Zardari assured Amna Taseer that “the sacrifice of Salmaan Taseer would not go waste and justice would be provided to her family”. The president also paid tributes to Salmaan Taseer for his services for the party, sources added.

The president expressed the hope that the elements behind the crime would be exposed and punished according to law. He said Salmaan Taseer was an asset for the party and a true follower of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto in treading their path to martyrdom.

“Taseer’s courage and determination in espousing the cause of the marginalised sections of society and readiness to pay the highest price for it will continue to inspire many. Few possess the courage of Salmaan Taseer in standing up to bigots and fanatics, and fewer still the readiness to embrace martyrdom for it,” President Zardari said.

The president also prayed to God to grant Taseer a high place in heaven and asked the widow to convey his condolences to other members of her family. She thanked the president saying that his words were a source of great strength in this hour of tragedy, party sources said.

Taseer murder politically motivated: PPP

Geo
KARACHI: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warriach said he was not satisfied with the investigations being carried out into the killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, as Punjab government was responsible for his security; however, the security was overlooked.

Talking to media after visiting Taseer’s grave at Cavalry Ground, he said Taseer’s assassination was politically motivated; but, it was being taken to some other dimension, adding his killing is a conspiracy against Pakistan.

A message has been given to democratic forces through this murder that they should back up only a peculiar approach, leaving aside the constitution and law, he stressed.

Imtiaz also questioned as to how Malik Mumtaz Qadri came on duty again after he had been expelled for being security threat.

Qadri had informed fellow guards: sources

Geo 
ISLAMABAD: Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Salman Taseer, has disclosed during investigation that he had informed his fellow guards about planning to assassinate Governor Punjab, Geo News reported sources as saying.

Meanwhile, he also told investigating officials that he had been ruled out of Special Branch owing to security risk, sources said.

Informing his fellow security guards about the plot, Mumtaz Qadri, had requested that they (other guards) should not open fire at him after killing of Salman Taseer as he had pledged that he would lay down arms after assassination, sources quoted investigating officials as saying.

He had said that he wanted to be arrested alive, sources said.

Malik Mumtaz Qadri had been ruled out of Special Branch some times ago because of security risk, he confessed.

Special branch had marked Qadri as risk for VVIP security

Dawn

ISLAMABAD: The Rawalpindi Special Branch had earlier marked Salman Taseer’s assassin Mumtaz Hussain Qadri and 10 other security personnel as a risk for VVIP movement, DawnNews reported.

Special Branch official Nasir Khan Durrani had marked the 11 security personnel a risk for VVIP security due to their leanings toward religious extremism.

Moreover, another three personnel of the Elite Force were arrested from Rawalpindi in connection with Taseer’s assassination.

Investigations were ongoing as to why Mumtaz Qadri was appointed for Taseer’s security.

Facebook ‘praise’ for Taseer’s assassination

Governor Punjab Salman Taseer’s assassin Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. Dawn

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of Facebook users welcomed the killing of liberal Pakistani politician Salman Taseer as a strike against reformers of the country’s tight blasphemy laws.

The Punjab governor was shot on Tuesday by one of his guards, 26-year-old Mumtaz Qadri, who confessed to the murder because of Taseer’s vocal opposition to the law that was recently used to sentence a Christian woman to death.

Analysts say the assassination underscores how deeply religious extremism has penetrated Pakistan’s conservative society, with even the Internet-literate elite resorting to Facebook to rally support for the killer.

Nearly 2,000 Facebook users joined one group on the social networking site praising Qadri, and dozens of “fans” joined other pages set up in Qadri’s honour in the hours after the shooting.

All the pages had been removed by Wednesday. Facebook was not immediately reachable for comment.

But other private account holders used their Facebook status updates to make comments such as: “We salute you Mumtaz Qadri,” “thank God he (Taseer) is not alive (any) more” and praise for the attacker as “a soldier of Islam”.

In a sign of mainstream media opposition, Pakistan’s leading Urdu-language newspaper, Jang, ran a front-page story declaring: “There should be no funeral for Salman Taseer and no condemnation for his death.”

“A supporter of a blasphemer is also a blasphemer,” said a sub-heading, reporting that 500 religious scholars and clerics had paid tribute to Qadri.

But voices also came out to denounce the gunman, and Facebook page named “I Hate Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri” had 70 “fans” with no comments or discussions.

Those Facebook users who spoke out in support of the politician expressed sadness over the growing Islamisation of the country.

“Sad over Death of Tolerance in Pakistan. Governor Punjab killed by his ‘lunatic guard,’” said one man on his status.

“Pretext: Late Governor Salman Taseer was bold enough to stand-up against Blasphemy law… extensively used/abused against religious minorities,” he added.

“It is sad. I shiver thinking where we are heading and in which society my kids will live their lives,” said another.

Police investigations are focusing on whether the bearded police commando acted alone or as part of a wider conspiracy.

A lawyer from Islamabad’s high court, Farooq Sulehria, told AFP that the assassin would find no shortage of support.

“We will provide all legal support to Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, we will fight for him in the court,” said Sulehria.

Salmaan Taseer's assassination: Security lapse or conspiracy?

Tribune

LAHORE: Federal Law Minister Babar Awan on Wednesday said that it was important to find out whether Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassination was a security lapse or a conspiracy to destabilise Pakistan.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, the law minister lamented that the authorities had failed to provide adequate security to Taseer. He said that the assassination had left many questions unanswered.

Earlier, Information Secretary Fauzia Wahab said that the Punjab Governor was killed due to political reasons.

Taseer, who recently angered religious zealots with his statements against the controversial blasphemy laws, was assassinated by one of his own guards in an upmarket neighbourhood of Islamabad on Tuesday.

Key Pakistani governor killed in shooting: police

AFP

ISLAMABAD — Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's most politically important province Punjab, was assassinated by one of his bodyguards in Islamabad on Tuesday, apparently for opposing blasphemy laws.

Taseer was one of the most moderate political voices in the main ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which this week slumped into a major political crisis when its junior coalition partner walked out of the federal government.

He was outspoken against the Taliban and other Islamist militants hunkered down in the country's northwest, and which have made increasing inroads into Punjab in recent years, and most recently against controversial blasphemy laws.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the killer was a member of Taseer's own security team, who quickly confessed to the crime and who had apparently worked for the governor on five or six previous occasions.

"He confessed that he killed the governor himself because he had called the blasphemy law a black law," Malik said.

"He has confessed his crime and surrendered his gun to police after the attack," he told reporters.

The brazen daylight shooting came as wealthy Pakistanis and expatriates were enjoying a late lunch or afternoon coffee in nearby cafes.

Spent cartridges littered the road outside Kohsar market in Islamabad's upmarket F6 sector, just a short distance from where Taseer kept a home, witnesses said.

Local administration chief Amir Ahmad Ali said Taseer died in hospital after being wounded in the shooting in F6.

"I was in the market. I heard the gunfire and hit the ground," said Shaukat, 28, a terrified labourer.

"Later on, while running for shelter I saw a man in uniform being grabbed by police. Later on, police officials said he was the attacker."

Police and anti-terror forces surround the area and the market closed after the attack. A silver Toyota car with a flat wheel was parked on one side. Blood was smeared on the road in two places, said an AFP reporter.

Taseer was a leading moderate voice in the PPP, which is facing a major political crisis since losing its parliamentary majority on Sunday.

Taseer made his money as a chartered accountant, setting up consultancy firms and a brokerage house, and with investments in telecommunications, the media, insurance and real estate before going into politics.

He served as minister for industry and production under former military ruler Pervez Musharraf from 2007 to 2008.

He was a long-time member of the Punjab provincial assembly and appointed governor by the PPP-led coalition government in 2008.