Vanishing witnesses impeding progress in Musharraf's Benazir Bhutto murder case

The Benazir Bhutto's murder probe is getting stalled amidst security threats to former general Pervez Musharraf and key witnesses evading from appearing in the court.

The Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) probe gets a setback after six strong nominated witnesses in the Bhutto murder case have evaded the court.

The Express Tribune reports that the Pakistan police have decided not to bring Musharraf to court from his sub-jail in Chak Shehzad in the outskirts of Islamabad citing security threats.

According to the report, American journalist Mark Siegel, who is the key witness, has flatly refused to fly to Pakistan for court proceedings.

FIA had nominated six people in the challan, including Intelligence Bureau Brig (retd) Ejaz Shah, former spokesperson of the foreign office Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema and former interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah, who now refuse to testify against their former boss.

The five accused had confessed to their involvement in the former prime minister's murder on the instructions of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, report added.

Amidst all these challenges, a hearing has been scheduled for today at the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court-1.

Moreover, none of the slain premier's blood relations have ever pursued the assassination case.