ARACHI, Feb. 1, Reuter: Benazir Bhutto, head of the powerful opposition Pakistan People’s Party, expressed joy today at the release of three aides kidnapped in what she said was an assassination attempt against her.
“I am happy over their release but there is some foul play behind their kidnapping”, the daughter of executed former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto told Reuters.
Supporters of veteran politician G.M. Syed recovered the three aides from their abductors yesterday and handed them over to police searching forests in Sind province.
Police said the three men left Hyderabad today for Karachi to meet Bhutto,
Bhutto, 33, said the incident last Wednesday, in which three gunmen fired on her jeep and a car, was an attempt to assassinate her. She was not in the jeep, having changed her plans at the last minute. The provincial government said an aide who escaped described it as a bandit attack.
Thousands protested in several cities on Thursday and Friday about the alleged assassination attempt.
Bhutto returned from self-imposed exile in Western Europe last April to demand fresh general elections, which were rejected by Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 6, 1987
