CIA: tribal leader with al-Qaida link murdered Bhutto

AMERICAN intelligence believes former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was murdered in an operation masterminded by a tribal leader linked to al-Qaida.

Baitullah Mehsud, who also has strong ties to the Taliban, heads a network in South Waziristan, a lawless border region next to Afghanistan. He has been blamed for an organised campaign of assassinations of Pakistani officials and suicide bombings in the country.

The CIA concluded that Mehsud was behind Ms Bhutto’s assassination shortly after it occurred, according to an intelligence official.