Bhutto’s Party demands UN probe into slaying, dismisses Scotland
Yard help
Supporters of Benazir Bhutto insisted Thursday that a U.N. probe was
the only way to reveal the truth behind her murder, dismissing a
government announcement that Scotland Yard antiterror officers would
help in the investigation.
Opposition parties also criticized the government’s decision to delay
parliamentary elections until Feb. 18 - a six-week delay prompted by the
rioting that followed the opposition leader’s death. But they said they
still plan to take part in the elections, seen as a key step in bringing
democracy to Pakistan after years of military rule.
Bhutto’s slaying in a gun and suicide bomb attack Dec. 27 plunged
already volatile Pakistan deeper into crisis and stoked fears of
political meltdown as the key U.S. ally struggled to contain an
explosion of Islamic militant violence.
The Government of President Pervez Musharraf declared just one day
after the attack that an al-Qaida-linked militant orchestrated the
killing. But the hasty accusation only served to cast doubt over the
government’s account of exactly how she died.
Authorities - which had initially ruled out the need for foreign
involvement in the investigation - have also come under sharp criticism
for their security arrangements for Bhutto, who had claimed elements in
the ruling party were trying to kill her.
“The mist of confusion will be cleared only if the regime accepts the
party’s demand for holding a UN inquiry into the assassination as was
done in the case of Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder,” said
Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party.
In a nationally televised address late Wednesday, Musharraf announced
that Scotland Yard detectives had been invited to join the probe. He
blamed “terrorists” for the death of Bhutto.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the team would leave
Britain by the end of the week.
The White House said it supported Scotland Yard’s involvement, adding
that a United Nations investigation into Bhutto’s slaying was not
necessary now.
“Scotland Yard being in the lead in this investigation is appropriate
and necessary and I don’t see - we don’t see a need for an investigation
beyond that at this time,” presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Islamabad, Thursday, AP |
