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Islamabad: Pakistan is accusing terrorist group Al Qaida for masterminding the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
"We have intelligence intercepts indicating that Al Qaida leader Baitullah Mehsud is behind her assassination," said Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema.
Cheema said authorities recorded an intercept on Friday in which Mehsud, on the most wanted list, had congratulated his men for the attack.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party rejected the claim, saying it wants solid evidence. When she was alive, Bhutto had spoken of Al Qaida plots to kill her and criticised President Pervez Musharraf for failing to protect her.
"The government is nervous," a spokesman said. "They are trying to cover up their failure" to provide adequate security.
Pakistan's Interior Ministry also falsified earlier reports by saying that Bhutto did not die from gunshot wounds on Thursday but that she was killed after smashing her head on her car's sunroof while trying to duck.
Bhutto's senior aide, Farooq Naik, called the explanation a "pack of lies". "Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head," he said.
Bhutto's murder has triggered violent protests in Pakistan, with angry mobs setting cars, buildings and train stations on fire. At least 31 people were killed in the violence.
Thousands of Bhutto's supporters attended her burial on Friday, with troops called out in force to stop protests in her home province of Sindh.
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