Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The United Nations has agreed to set up a panel to investigate the killing of Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, thus accepting a request made by Pakistani authorities.
In New York Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced yesterday an agreement in principle after meeting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, explaining that the “objectives are for the commission to identify the culprits, perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the assassination”
He added that the agreement includes a broad understanding on the nature of the commission, its funding, access to information and ways to safeguard its impartiality and independence.
Ms Bhutto was killed in December last year whilst running as candidate for the February 2008 elections from injuries sustained from a bomb blast during a rally in Rawalpindi.
Her murder caused protests across the country.
Five people have been arrested in connection with the killing, but no one has been convicted.
President Pervez Musharraf blamed an al-Qaeda-linked militant for the attack and refused to seek a UN probe.
Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, which is part of the current coalition government that defeated Mr Musharraf’s allies, called for a wider inquiry by the UN to establish the identity and motives of the assassins.
No autopsy was performed on Bhutto's body and it is not certain how she died (from a head injury or other causes).
