Interior Minister Rehman Malik Friday,while refuting the claim of former President General Pervez Musharraf (retd) that NRO was Benazir Bhutto specific, said the martyred PPP leader was strongly opposed to it.
Talking to a private television channel, the Minister said that the NRO was a unilateral step of the then government and the cabinet. “When its draft was sent to the PPP leadership, Benazir Bhutto asked me to reject it”, Malik said. He said that PPP leadership’s engagement with then government was purely for the purpose of seeking a way out for smooth transition and not for the NRO.
The Minister said that Musharraf had asked Benazir Bhutto to delay her return to country till December 31 but she refused it saying she had already told the people about her return date and she could not break her promise.
So the PPP leader made her way to homeland despite the security threats to her from within the country and abroad, the Minister said.
To a question he said that Benazir Bhutto’s assassination was an international conspiracy so the PPP leadership had asked for its probe by the UN prior to coming into power.
The investigation is a very complex one and a timeframe for its completion cannot be given, he added.
“We want the investigation result-oriented “he said adding there was a need of patience to get this objective.
To a question, he said that General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is the big supporter of democracy and a committed professional and all the speculations about difference between military and political leadership are baseless.
Some people are just busy in giving the impression of dissent in this regard and it is better to ignore them, he said.
To a question, the Interior Minister said that when Benazir Bhutto’s government was toppled by Farooq Leghari, he was then the head of FIA and was asked by the then rulers to become an approver against the PPP leader.
Rehman said that in return he was offered to continue with his position or opt for some other high post but he outrightly refused to play this dirty role.
The Minister said that he was a professional official and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto had never asked him to do anything wrong.
Consequently, he was put behind the bars but the rulers failed to prove their stance in the courts and he was finally released, he added.
He tried to live in the country with peace but some life attempts on him and his family members forced him to leave the country.