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Teen Busted in Bhutto Killing

Youth says he was part of team dispatched by militant linked to al-Qaeda

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 19, 2008 9:39 AM CST

(Newser) – Pakistani authorities have arrested a teenage suspect in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, reports the AP. The 15-year-old said he was part of a five-person team sent to Rawalpindi by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant tribal leader affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said. A spokesman for Mehsud denied the allegation, which he called "propaganda."

US intelligence has also determined that the attack on Bhutto was part of a strategy by Mehsud to assassinate Pakistani leaders. Pakistani officials, meanwhile, intercepted would-be suicide bombers targeting the nation's Shiite minority during celebrations of the Ashoura holy ritual, which ends today. "With these arrests we have foiled major attacks," said Karachi's police chief.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signs a condolence book for slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, seen on portrait, Friday, Dec. 28, 2007, at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington. Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself...
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signs a condolence book for slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, seen on portrait, Friday, Dec. 28, 2007, at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington. Bhutto...   (Associated Press)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is seen during a visit to Brussels in this Nov. 7, 2000 file photo.  Bhutto was assassinated on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, apparently after being shot and then attacked by a suicide bomber as she left a campaign rally, aides said. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo,...
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is seen during a visit to Brussels in this Nov. 7, 2000 file photo. Bhutto was assassinated on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, apparently after being shot and then...   (Associated Press)
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto waves to her supporter during an election campaign in Mirpurkhas, Pakistan in this Dec. 18, 2007 file photo.  Opposition leader Bhutto died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, from injuries sustained in a suicide attack, a party aide said.  (AP Photo/Shakil Adil, File)
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto waves to her supporter during an election campaign in Mirpurkhas, Pakistan in this Dec. 18, 2007 file photo. Opposition leader Bhutto died Thursday, Dec....   (Associated Press)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto addresses a news conference in Karachi, Pakistan, in this Dec. 13, 2007 file photo. A suicide bomber struck shortly after Bhutto addressed a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, killing at least 20 people, witnesses said. A party aide said...
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto addresses a news conference in Karachi, Pakistan, in this Dec. 13, 2007 file photo. A suicide bomber struck shortly after Bhutto addressed a political rally...   (Associated Press)
Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto mourn at the grave of their leader in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh  near Larkana, Pakistan on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007. Pakistan rejected an outside investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, despite controversy over the circumstances of her death and three days of...
Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto mourn at the grave of their leader in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh near Larkana, Pakistan on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007. Pakistan rejected an outside investigation...   (Associated Press)
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