A video provided to the
Ministry of Interior indicates a serious lapse on the
part of agencies responsible for the security of Finance
Minister Shaukat Aziz at the Fatehjang meeting where an
apparent suicide bombing killed at least eight people
on Friday.
The video shows a man,
believed to be the bomber, standing unchecked for quite
some time near the car of Mr Aziz. The video aired by
a private TV station on Tuesday evening was reported to
have been given to the DG of the National Crisis Management
Cell (NCMC) of the interior ministry, Brigadier Javed
Iqbal Cheema.
Brig Cheema acknowledged
receiving the video and said that investigators were examining
it from different angles. A frame by frame analysis of
the video shows that the well- built man, who possibly
had explosives wrapped his body, also appeared to have
accomplices in the immediate vicinity of the black bullet-proof
Mercedes of Mr Aziz.
Dressed in brown clothes,
the man could not be distinguished from plain clothed
security personnel usually found during VVIP movements.
The attackers seem to have taken advantage of the fact
that plain-clothed security officials appearing to be
common people usually accompany VIPs.
The suicide bomber, as
shown in the video, looked like an ordinary Pakistani
and was seen in the close security zone for quite some
time. The uniformed officials shown in the video made
no attempt to check the man as he waited near the police
mobile in front of the Mercedes.
The video also shows two
men dressed in white kurta shalwar crossing the path of
the vehicle. One of them had a hand in the side-pocket
throughout his movement, from the left of the vehicle,
crossing in front of it and going to the right.
The video shows the red
rear lights of the Mercedes and a third person rushing
in front of the car prompting the driver to apply the
brakes. Analysts who watched the video several times believe
the man who had crossed over to the right side of the
vehicle had the detonator of the bomb in his pocket.
After crossing over to
the right side of the car, the man appears to establish
eye contact with the suicide bomber. The next frame of
the video shows three police personnel, two of them senior
officials, standing behind the vehicle having a clear
view of the men near the vehicle of Mr Aziz.
After the eye contact between
the two men, the video shows the suicide bomber taking
three steps towards the car. He raises his hand and an
explosion takes place blowing him into pieces.
Investigations into suicide
attacks on President Musharraf in December last year also
establish the presence of the bomber and his accomplices
in the vicinity of the attack.
The investigations later
established that suicide bombers had communication with
other accomplices on the ground in the immediate vicinity
of the scene of the crime.
Sources said the attacks
on Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Musharraf
had revealed a common feature between suicide bombings
in Pakistan and in Iraq and Palestine - presence of accomplices
in the vicinity of the attacks.
