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Rediff.com  » News » Did Advani plot to kill Jinnah?

Did Advani plot to kill Jinnah?

Source: PTI
Last updated on: May 31, 2005 10:35 IST
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Pakistani police will not press a 57-year-old case against Bharatiya Janata Party chief L K Advani over an alleged plot to kill the country's first president, officials said.

Advani is in Pakistan on a seven-day tour which will include meetings with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. He arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday.

A criminal case is still pending against Advani and 17 others for allegedly conspiring to kill Pakistan's first president Mohammad Ali Jinnah and other leaders, police said.

The case was lodged at Karachi's Jamshed Quarters police station on September 10, 1947 a few weeks after Partition.

"We still have the first information report of this case in our records," a police official said on condition of anonymity.

The Pakistani government, however, has said it was not aware of any criminal case against Advani.

"He is our guest and visiting Pakistan on our invitation so we cannot open the case against him at this juncture," a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

The Sindh government said it was making special security arrangements for Advani who is due to visit Karachi on Friday.

Accompanied by his wife Kamala and daughter Pratibha, the former deputy prime minister is on his first visit to Pakistan in 27 years.

Advani was received at the airport by Syed Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League.

He told reporters his visit to Pakistan would further the peace process initiated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf in January 2004 and carried forward by the United Progressive government.

Asked whether he would discuss the Kashmir issue with the Pakistani leadership, he said "why only Kashmir? I would like to talk on all issues."

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