Musharraf should return if he’s brave: Zardari

Islamabad, Sep 22 (IANS) Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari, responding to allegations levelled by former President Pervez Musharraf of being complicit in Benazir Bhutto's assassination, said on Friday that the former general should return to Pakistan and face the courts if he is "brave".

Zardari was speaking to the media a day after Musharraf accused him of "having the most to gain from Bhutto's murder".

"He (Musharraf) should appear in front of the court," Zardari said in Kamalia, a city in district Toba Tek Singh.

The leader's daughters also hit out at Musharraf on Twitter and dubbed him a "murderer".

Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, the eldest daughter of the slain premier, called the former general a "coward" in a tweet. She said Musharraf should quit TV talk shows and face the courts.

Aseefa Bhutto Zardari also took to Twitter with a hashtag #ShameOnMusharraf saying that he is "blaming the victims".

She came down hard on the media for giving coverage to Musharraf, saying: "Disgusted & appalled by media houses that are giving attention to this murderer, who ran away," besides calling for his arrest.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s ousted leader Ayesha Gulalai on Friday stated that Musharraf's accusations "seem true" and demanded that the Benazir Bhutto murder case be opened again, the News International reported.

Gulalai called Musharraf "innocent" and said he was being "trapped", adding that the nation should realise who benefited from Benazir's murder.

Musharraf said in a video message released on Thursday: "The one responsible for all miseries of the Bhutto family as well as the assassination of Benazir and Murtaza Bhutto, is none other but (Asif Ali) Zardari."

He added that Zardari did nothing to investigate the murder of Murtaza Bhutto as he enjoyed his stay in the presidency for five years. Musharraf's statement came days after he was accused of being involved in Benazir Bhutto's murder.

On August 31, an Anti-Terrorist Court in Rawalpindi acquitted five alleged operatives of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for want of evidence over the assassination of Benazir in a gun and suicide attack in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.