Pakistani police on Saturday formally accused the top Taliban leader in the country and four others of planning the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Police filed preliminary charges in court against Baitullah Mehsud, who has been named by the Pakistani government in the December 27 killing of Bhutto in a suicide and gun-attack during a public rally. Mehsud is underground and it is not clear if the police are anywhere close to catching him.

“Police submitted preliminary charges in the Bhutto case before an anti-terrorism court, and the judge issued non-bailable warrants of arrest against Baitullah Mehsud and four other accused,” said Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, the chief investigator in the case.

Although Mehsud was named by President Pervez Musharraf within days of the assassination, the filing of the preliminary charges Saturday completes a legal formality. It is the first legal step before an arrest can be made.

Mehsud is the commander of Tehrik-e-Taliban, an umbrella group of Islamic militant groups linked to al-Qaida. Mehsud is believed to be based in the volatile South Waziristan province at the border with Afghanistan, and has been blamed for a series of suicide attacks across Pakistan.

Majeed refused to give details of the police investigation into the specific roles that the suspects are accused of playing in the assassination.

“The suspects, declared absconders in the case, were involved in planning to kill Benazir Bhutto,” he told Associated Press.

He said the others named in the charges are Ibadur Rehman, Imramullah, Faiz Muhammad and Abbdullah. All five are accused of being involved in planning and financing the assassination plot, he said. Imramullah and Abbdullah use only one name. Police have already arrested five suspects in connection with Bhutto’s killing including Husnain Gul, who allegedly facilitated Bhutto’s attacker because he wanted to avenge the death of a friend in a military attack on a mosque last year.

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