UN Chief vows Bhutto probe to ‘expose’ killers

PAKISTAN: A United Nations investigation into the killing of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will eventually bring her assassins to justice, the Pakistani president and the U.N. secretary-general said.

Bhutto’s husband, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, said Wednesday that a three-member commission would probe the Dec. 27, 2007, gun-and-suicide bomb attack.

“We believe the commission’s findings will eventually expose the financiers, the organizers, the sponsors and the conspirators of this terrorist act and bring them to justice,” Zardari told an audience of government officials after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Ban said he would “very shortly” establish an independent commission of inquiry that would be headed by a “very distinguished person.” He did not elaborate and gave no details on the mandate of the probe. The U.N. announced in July that a probe would be launched into the assassination.

Bhutto was killed as she was leaving a rally in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where she was campaigning to return her Pakistan People’s Party to power in parliamentary elections.

The United States and other Western nations made no secret of their support for the politician, who they saw as a solid ally against Islamist militancy wracking Pakistan.

The government at the time, led by President Pervez Musharraf, blamed Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistani militant commander with reported links to al-Qaida. CIA officials also said Mehsud was the chief suspect.

But Bhutto’s party repeatedly hinted that Musharraf or his allies were involved and demanded a U.N. probe, claiming it was the only way the whole truth would be revealed.

Zardari, who became Pakistan’s president after parliamentary elections in February, continued lobbying for a U.N. inquiry.

Since taking power, Zardari has angered some critics within his party by not aggressively investigating the slaying of his wife, apparently content to rely on the U.N. probe.

Four people are already on trial in connection with Bhutto’s murder. The trials are being held behind closed doors and no information has been released as to their alleged roles.

Islamabad, Thursday AP