KARACHI, Jan 15: The Pakistan People’s Party would dispatch a long-awaited petition to the United Nations on Wednesday, requesting it to launch an investigation into the assassination of its slain chairperson Benazir Bhutto, said its co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday.

Coinciding with the dispatch of the petition, said Mr Zardari, the People’s Party would be launching an international initiative under which governments other than Pakistan’s would be explained why an investigation under the auspices of the UN was needed. Delegations would be sent to several countries, asking them to persuade Islamabad to allow a UN probe.

Speaking at a press conference in the Bilawal House, he said the government’s claim that Ms Bhutto was murdered by the operatives of Al Qaeda had lent weight to the PPP’s demand for a probe by the world body.

“The regime itself has been calling it the handiwork of Al Qaeda, which is an international organisation with bases outside Pakistan. If that indeed is the case, there is all the more reason why the UN must be requested to investigate,” remarked Mr Zardari in reply to a question.

He said he already had discussions on the subject with people like former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan and Asma Jehangir, who had supported his party’s stance. After Ms Bhutto’s assassination, the UN had expressed willingness to assist in the investigations, if requested by the Pakistan government.

Flanked by Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Sherry Rehman, Raza Rabbani, Dr Fehmida Mirza, Naveed Qamar, Nafees Siddiqui, N.D. Khan and Rashid Rabbani, Mr Zardari dwelt at length on several issues, including the reasons why the PPP wanted a UN probe, his meeting with Scotland Yard investigators, allegations of pre-poll rigging against the Musharraf government and the law and order situation obtaining in the country.

He said the PPP had been calling for a

UN investigation because it had no faith in the probe ordered by the Musharraf government. Pakistani investigators were in no position to “expose the hidden but powerful hands behind the conspiracy” to eliminate Ms Bhutto. The PPP’s co-chairman was of the view that the government’s act of inviting a Scotland Yard team to look into his wife’s murder was tantamount to admitting that any probe by Pakistani agencies was inadequate.

The PPP even questioned the terms of reference of the investigations undertaken by the Scotland Yard team, he said, because they pertained only to the cause of Ms Bhutto’s death and not to the “perpetrators and organisers of the plot behind it”.

Soon after the bombing during a PPP rally in Karachi on Oct 18, the UN had called upon all nations to assist in exposing “the perpetrators, financiers, planners and organisers” of the plot, said Mr Zardari. “That resolution of the UN is also binding on Pakistan.”

Speaking of the “influential suspects” who had been mentioned in a letter from Ms Bhutto to Gen Musharraf, he said Pakistani agencies were not in a position to interrogate them. Their names would be disclosed at an appropriate time, as the probe proceeded.

The People’s Party leader also referred to Ms Bhutto’s letter to Mark Seigel a few days before her assassination, which he maintained, was her “dying declaration”. This letter too could not be taken into account by Pakistani investigators.

Answering a question about his meetings with the Scotland Yard detectives, Mr Zardari said he had to come down to Karachi to meet them because the government had not allowed the investigators to visit Naudero. He said his party had placed some material before the team of British experts.

He made it clear that he and his party members would be responding to any queries made by the Scotland Yard team. He parried a question about the British detectives’ findings, saying their probe was an ongoing one and it would be premature to disclose anything at the moment.

The PPP chief said his party would behave in a responsible manner as it had always struggled for democracy and rule of law. Benazir Bhutto believed in these values and the PPP would not let her down in any way.

“The Pakistani Gorbachevs are rubbing salt into the wounds of the people and the PPP. But we will continue to struggle and safeguard the federation despite receiving bodies of martyrs.” Mr Zardari said the present leadership of the PPP was committed to the ideals of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

He said the government was trying to deceive the people over Ms Bhutto’s post-mortem, which was not carried out for a full six hours after her death. “They didn’t need my permission during that period to conduct a post-mortem. It was incumbent upon them under the medico-legal laws to get it done.”

Mr Zardari said that when he reached Rawalpindi, about six hours after his wife’s death, the authorities sought his permission to carry out a post-mortem. “But I had decided by that time to turn down their offer.”

Asked to comment on President Musharraf’s recent remarks that Ms Bhutto was not popular in the army, the PPP co-chairman said it was not Gen Ziaul Haq’s son who won elections in Rawalpindi but the PPP’s own Zamurrad Khan.

“The PPP wins elections from every cantonment, which shows how Benazir Bhutto is respected there as PPP belongs to all Pakistanis.”

In reply to a question about polls, the PPP chief said his party would not let “the Gorbachev” avoid elections. He urged the people to turn out in large numbers on Feb 18 to cast their votes.

Mr Zardari added that the Bilawal House, Karachi, was the property of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the PPP would seek his permission to establish a museum there.