Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the United States, Joseph Biden, has said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is "indirectly complicit" in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in view of the kind of protection that was needed for her was never provided.
"I think he's indirectly complicit. I'm not saying he had anything to do with the assassination. While speaking to her, Benazir asked me that she needed specific things, including certain kinds of vehicles and certain protection. And I, along with two of colleagues, wrote to Musharraf, spoke to Musharraf about the need for that. It never happened," Biden said.
"I'm not saying had she had the protection she would have lived, but it sure bothers me that she did not get the kind of protection she needed," the Delaware Democrat said.
Biden who is also a Democratic Presidential candidate seeking the party's nomination for the November 2008 showdown said that he is extremely concerned about the current state of affairs in Pakistan.
"I've been saying for over a year-and-a-half the most dangerous nation on the planet is Pakistan, because it is bristling with nuclear weapons. Although it has a clear majority of moderates, it has an extreme faction that is able to unsettle the whole region. And we should be very concerned," Biden said.
Biden was asked what he would do if he were the president now, he said, he would insist that the elections be conducted in a free and transparent manner.
"I would insist on an investigation that would involve our FBI and forensic people helping to determine who was responsible for this. Second, I would make sure we let the Pakistani people know that we're going to have a long-term Pakistani policy with significant economic assistance to them," Biden replied.
"And, third, what I would do, I would have a new policy in Afghanistan letting the people of Pakistan and the Pakistani leaders know we're in this fight with them dealing with the terrorists in their northwest province," he added.
