Pakistan holds two over Bhutto murder

Pakistani police have arrested two more suspects in connection with the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Pakistani police have arrested two more suspects in connection with the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Mrs Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack on December 27th as she was coming out of an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

Supporters of Benazir Bhutto pray during special prayers in her ancestral village of Garhi Khuda Baksh today
Supporters of Benazir Bhutto pray during special prayers in her ancestral village of Garhi Khuda Baksh today

Last month, authorities arrested a 15-year-old boy who admitted being a a back-up suicide bomber for a team that assassinated Mrs Bhutto.

The government has blamed Baitullah Mehsud, an al-Qaeda-linked militant commander, based in a tribal region on the Afghan border, for the murder.

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The latest arrests came as Mrs Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party marked the 40th and final mourning day of her assassination.

Mrs Bhutto's husband today vowed that he would risk assassination to win a posthumous election victory for her.

"If I am martyred before completing the mission of Benazir Bhutto, then I should also be buried here," Asif Ali Zardari said in a speech today to thousands of mourners gathered outside a white marble mausoleum in his wife's ancestral village.

Pakistan votes for a new parliament and provincial assembly in an election that was delayed until February 18th after Mrs Bhutto's assassination.

While not a presidential election, the outcome could have serious consequences for President Pervez Musharraf, who came to power as a general in a coup in 1999 and is now going through his most unpopular period.

Mr Zardari, who a day earlier denied he wanted to become prime minister, has not said whether he favoured working with or against Mr Musharraf should the Pakistan People's Party win elections later this month. The PPP's likely choice for the premiership is its deputy chairman, Makhdoom Amin Fahim.