Prosecutor in Bhutto Killing and Mumbai Attacks Assassinated in Pakistan

Pakistani police officials examined the bullet-riddled car of the slain prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali after an attack by gunmen in Islamabad on Friday. 

 MULTAN, Pakistan – Gunmen killed a court prosecutor working on the murder case of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto early Friday, casting into turmoil a politically charged case that has also embroiled Pakistan’s former military leader, Pervez Musharraf.

Assailants fatally shot Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali as he was leaving his home in a suburb of the capital, Islamabad, for a court hearing in which Mr. Musharraf, who is currently under house arrest, was due to seek bail. 

Initial reports said that gunmen traveling by motorbike and car sprayed Mr. Ali’s car with bullets. His bodyguard was wounded and a woman passer-by was killed when his car veered out of control, police said. Television footage from the scene showed a bullet-riddled car that had veered off the road. One reporter at the scene said that one of the assailants had been wounded by Mr. Ali’s bodyguard but managed to escape in a vehicle. 

A doctor at the hospital where his body was brought said he had been shot 13 times. 

Mr. Ali represented the Federal Investigation Agency, which has implicated Mr. Musharraf in the case of Ms. Bhutto, who was assassinated in December 2007, just before the last election. Mr. Ali was also the prosecutor in the trial of seven people from the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba who have been charged with orchestrating the Mumbai attacks of November 2008. 

After a court hearing on April 30, Mr. Ali told reporters there was “solid evidence” that connected Mr. Musharraf with Ms. Bhutto’s death. Investigators had compiled evidence that “directly connect the accused” with the killing, he said. 

Mr. Ali was also involved in other prominent cases including the militant assault on the military’s general headquarters in Rawalpindi in October 2009, and the trial of seven people charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks in 2008. 

The killing comes at a politically sensitive time, with Pakistanis due to go to the polls for a general election on May 11. Campaigning has been marred by widespread Taliban violence against candidates from secular parties. 

Mr. Musharraf, who returned from exile in order to contest the election last month, faces charges in several cases related to his time in power, including the murder of Ms. Bhutto, the killing of a Baloch nationalist leader, and the firing of senior judges. 

Mr. Musharraf has been disqualified from contesting the election and earlier this week a court banned him from politics for life. The retired general also faces possible treason charges, although no decision will be taken until a new government is formed after the May 11 election.

A lawyer for Mr. Musharraf condemned the killing shortly afterward and said that killers should be brought to justice. 

In the court hearing in nearby Rawalpindi, lawyers for Mr. Musharraf argued that he should be exempted from appearing in person in the case, Pakistani television stations reported. The hearing was adjourned until May 14.