Bhutto's attacker identified: Report

Islamabad, Jan 29: The suicide bomber who blew himself up near slain oppositon leader Benazir Bhutto's vehicle in Rawalpindi has been identified as Bilal from the restive South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan, a local media report said today.

The Daily Times quoted Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah as saying that Aitzaz Shah, a 15-year-old boy arrested from DI Khan in Northwestern Pakistan on January 19, had identified the suicide bomber during interrogation by the Joint Investigation Team. Another suspect Sher Zaman was arrested from the same locality in DI Khan on Aitzaz's tip off. The interior secretary said investigators were verifying the information with Bilal's family and official records in South Waziristan.

He said Aitzaz had told the interrogators that he had been meeting Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud, but the claim was yet to be verified.

Sher Zaman had not revealed any information so far, he added. He said he did not know if the person who fired at Benazir, who he identified as Ikram, was alive.

He said a charge sheet would be submitted to the court when the investigations are complete.

UNI