The crash of C-130 plane near the Pakistani city of Bahawalpur, 531 kilometers (330 miles) south of Pakistani capital Islamabad on Aug. 17, 1988, killing country’s President and Army Chief Gen. Muhammad Ziaulhaq continues to remain shrouded in mystery. The crash also killed U.S. Ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel and several other top Pakistani military officials.
Over the past three decades, many people speculated about the sabotage, believing that explosives were hidden in a crate of mangoes loaded on the plane in Bahawalpur. But the Pakistani and the U.S. authorities have repeatedly denied and described the crash an accident.
Now, 32-years later Muhammad Ijazulhaq, former Pakistani federal minister and son of Ziaulhaq claims that he has gathered evidence concluding that the plane came down due to spraying of nerve gas in the cockpit that maimed pilots. He also confirmed the presence of explosives in the mango crates, besides claiming that a projectile had also hit the plane.
In an exclusive interview with the Anadolu Agency in his office in Rawalpindi, Ijazulhaq, who is writing a book on the subject said that conspirators did not want to leave anything to chance.
He claimed that the role of former Army Chief Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, former National Security Advisor Gen. Mahmood Ali Durrani draws suspicion. He said that based on the evidence, that he has collected Indian and Israeli spy agencies were also involved in the killing of his father.
