ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court on Thursday acquitted five accused in the Benazir Bhutto murder case and sentenced two accused to 17 years in prison. 

ATC Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict and also declared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf as an absconder.

Director Geo News Rana Jawad said that the decision is perplexing as it focuses on individuals who neglected their duties after Benazir's murder and does not focus on the real culprits. 

The decision fails to address the main question which is about the identity of Benazir's actual killer, said Jawad. 

Senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir said he was not surprised over the decision. 

He said that Benazir had talked to him before her murder and had said that Musharraf, among others, would be responsible if anything were to happen to her. 

Mir added that Benazir had also named certain members of banned organisations, some of whom were arrested later but others were not. 

Referring to the 2008 general elections, Mir said the PPP won the elections as it promised to investigate Benazir's murder. 

PPP had five years to investigate, but did not cooperate with teams tasked with investigating the murder, he said further. 

Mir also said that the PPP did not want to target Musharraf as it had an NRO deal with him. 

PPP leader Nayyar Bukhari said he was not satisfied with the verdict and is waiting for the detailed judgement. 

He added that the sentence handed is not strict enough and an appeal will be filed once the detailed verdict is issued.