Govt will not back request for UN probe, says minister
By Ashraf Mumtaz
LAHORE, Jan 7: The government would not support the PPP’s request for a United Nations investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said on Monday.
The minister said that the Scotland Yard team helping the government’s investigating team was very competent and there was no need to bring in the world body.
A team of PPP leaders, led by Senator Farooq Naek, has drafted a letter for the UN to be put up before Asif Ali Zardari for approval on Tuesday. Its approval was delayed when Mr Zardari recently left for Dubai.
According to Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum, since the UN deals with states and not individuals, it will not entertain any request from the PPP without support from the government.
The interior minister said the PPP had been demanding that Ms Bhutto’s murder investigation be entrusted to some foreign agency.
He said it was because of that demand that the government had invited the Scotland Yard to look into the incident.
He said if the government accepted the PPP demand for a UN probe, there would be no end to its requests
The UN secretary-general had recently said he would have no objection about sending a team to probe Ms Bhutto’s murder provided the request was made by the Pakistan government.
