Lahore, Dec 28: Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former Pakistan chief justice Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, has blamed the Musharraf regime for the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Tarar said Pakistan has reached the brink of disintegration with Bhutto’s killing.

“Since Musharraf seized power, terrorism has gained momentum like wildfire. The violence on religious seminaries, the Lal Mosque tragedy, the chaotic situation in Waziristan, the killing of Bugti in Balochistan, the military operation in Swat and Bajaur and later the killing of Bhutto testifies that the Musharraf was the mastermind of growing violence in Pakistan,” he said.

Musharraf did all this to prolong his rule on the directives of Bush Administration, he added.

Meanwhile, several political and religious parties have expressed deep sorrows over Bhutto’s death.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Samina Khalid Ghurki described the assassination as a tragedy and a terrible blow not only to the party but for the whole country. Benazir was the only ray of hope for the Pakistani masses, she added.

“After her death, the subcontinent has lost an outstanding leader who worked for democracy and reconciliation in her country. The manner of her going is a reminder of the common dangers that the Pakistan region faces from cowardly acts of terrorism, and of the need to eradicate this dangerous threat,” Ghurki said

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said, he could not believe that Benazir had died in a suicide attack and described her as a political asset of the country. Pakistan has never witnessed the worst form of terrorism throughout its history, but since the day President Musharraf reined in the powers forcibly, suicide bomb attacks have started terrifying everyone.”

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahamd termed the murder of Benazir a great tragedy and said it was another shock for the Bhutto family after the death of former Pakistan Prime Minister Zufiqar Ali Bhutto, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, and Shahnawaz Bhutto.

He asked the PPP leaders to join hands with the other opposition parties to throw Musharraf out of power.

Liaqat Baloch, another (JI) leader said, “It was national tragedy and the whole nation was sad over it and claimed that it was the result of the wrong policies of the Musharraf Government.”

President of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Nafaz-e-Shariat, Saleem Ullah, said that intelligence agencies had claimed in their reports that Benazir was receiving life threats. (ANI)l