Benazir Bhutto murder case adjourned till March 22

Islamabad: An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Saturday adjourned till March 22 the hearing in Benazir Bhutto murder case after the federal prosecutor failed to turn up citing security concerns.

Judge Pervez Joya adjourned the case as Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry could not attend the hearing. Court sources told PTI that Chaudhry has moved an application seeking enhanced security arrangement after he received some threats. The sources didn`t elaborate on the exact kind of threats. Azhar, who took over as special prosecutor in the case just last year, assumed the position after his predecessor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was shot dead in Islamabad in May. The lawyer is also the prosecution chief in the Mumbai attacks case here against seven accused including LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. In Pakistan`s high-profile criminal and terror-related cases, the job of prosecutors as well as of the defence counsels is perilous. Bhutto was assassinated in a bomb attack on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi, two weeks before the scheduled 2008 general election in which she was a leading opposition candidate.