WHO KILLED DANIEL PEARL THE JOURNALIST

A report in the weekly New York Sunhinted at the involvement of commandos from the Special Services Group (the equivalent of the SAS), which was headed by Musharraf for many years before he became army chief.

But most importantly, the name of the assassination plotter that Benazir Bhutto herself allegedly mentioned to Musharraf before her arrival in Pakistan was that of retired Brig. Gen. Ejaz Shah, director of the country's intelligence bureau.

Ejaz Shah was the man who "handled" bin Laden for nearly two decades, both in Shah's present position and in his previous postings in the Pakistani intelligence. He was sure to lose his job had Benazir Bhutto been elected as prime minister of Pakistan.

Shah, a Musharraf protégé, is the same man who failed to act against Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, the mastermind behind the gruesome slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. At the time of Daniel Pearl's killing, Shah was Home Secretary - the top law enforcement official - in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, and in charge of Inter-Services Intelligence operations in Kashmir.

On the day before Pearl's abduction, the ISI allegedly kidnapped TIME correspondent Ghulam Hasnain - some say in retribution for Pearl

Pearl was not so lucky and, shockingly, Musharraf seemed to blame Pearl for inviting his own death.

Over the years, Ejaz Shah has wriggled his way up the greasy pole. He is considered Musharraf's buddy and has done dirty jobs for him in the past as well, like his infamous attempt to silence rape victim Mukhtar Mai. As part of his job, Shah is said to be in regular contact with "Islamic radicals,", and perhaps the likes of bin Laden, Dawood Ibrahim and Pearl's killer, Ahmed Saeed Omar Sheikh, whose surrender Shah reportedly managed for Pakistan authorities. In her interview with David Frost, Bhutto clearly identified Shah as the person wanting to see her dead and mentioned his links with Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. In an apparent slip of the tongue, instead of saying Daniel Pearl's name, she said Sheikh had murdered Osama bin Laden during the live telecast.

Bin Laden's personal dislike for Benazir Bhutto was an open secret. The terrorist mastermind is said to have offered huge sums of money to Pakistani legislators to oust Bhutto through a vote of no-confidence as early as her first term as elected prime minister of Pakistan (1988-90).

Bin Laden's hatred stems primarily from his world view that women should not lead Muslim societies. Most Muslim men still believe the ancient biblical teaching that women are inferior to men.

"Bin Laden operatives approached us with bag-loads of money," recalls Mir Hasil Bizenjo, secretary general of the National Party, who was then a member of the National Assembly.

At that time, Bhutto reported bin Laden's involvement in Pakistan politics, including a gift of $10 million to Bhutto's parliamentary opponents, to Saudi Arabia's King Fahd. Bhutto mentioned the event in her revised autobiography. "Benazir Bhutto, Daughter of the East."

So who really killed Benazir Bhutto? None of us know for sure. Just as no one knows where bin Laden orMullah Omar is. But one thing is certain: there are several plausible suspects, and they all have links to President Pervez Musharraf.