May 23, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 22: The government said on Thursday it would send a delegation to the UN headquarters to formally request Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for forming an international commission to probe into the killing of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto because it suspected an ‘international conspiracy’ behind her tragic assassination.

The request prepared after detailed deliberations by the Foreign Office and ministries of law and interior calls upon the UN to form a commission to expose, through independent and impartial investigations, the culprits, perpetrators, financiers and the mastermind behind the Dec 27 assassination of the former prime minister in a gun-and-bomb attack in Rawalpindi.

“We have asked for an appointment with the UN secretary-general through our permanent representative Mr Munir Akram to present to him Pakistan government’s request for the UN-led probe,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at the weekly press briefing of the Foreign Office, which he jointly addressed with Law Minister Farooq Naek.

It may be mentioned that Mr Akram, who is being asked to arrange the ministers’ meeting with the UN secretary-general, had opposed the request for a UN probe and is believed to have briefed PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on the ‘consequences’ of such a move. His viewpoint had been supported by former Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan.

The meeting with the secretary-general is expected in the second fortnight of June.

The Pakistani delegation comprising the ministers of law and foreign affairs would also lobby with permanent members of the Security Council for an early formation of the probe commission.

Mr Qureshi said the international probe was being requested in accordance with the wishes of the people of the country manifested through resolutions adopted by the national and provincial legislatures.

Law Minister Farooq Naek justified the need for an international probe and said the government was of the view that international elements were involved in the assassination of the former prime minister.

Al Qaeda, which has an international network, he said, was suspected of being involved in the attack. Baitullah Mehsud is just one of the suspects, he said, adding the entire network had to be uncovered.

He said probing an international conspiracy was beyond the capacity of local investigators, constrained by resource shortage and it would be more convenient for an international commission to undertake such an investigation.

Allaying fears expressed by certain circles about an international probe, Mr Naek said the terms of reference were very clear and the investigation would not compromise the country’s sovereignty.

The foreign minister assured that the investigation was not meant to be a witch-hunting exercise or for opening the Pandora’s Box or political point scoring. “The only purpose is to reveal the truth.”

The ministers were probably referring to the reservations expressed by Mr Munir Akram and Riaz Mohammad Khan.

Mr Qureshi said all aspects including the alleged involvement of certain characters of the previous regime in destroying vital evidence in the case would come under scrutiny.

“But, we don’t want to pre-judge anyone,” said the foreign minister.

The PPP, before coming into power, had in January written a letter to the secretary-general and other permanent members of the Security Council requesting the setting up of an independent international commission.

On that occasion, the PPP had based its demand for the commission on its lack of trust in the investigating process in Pakistan and the commitment of the then government to arrive at a ‘satisfactory and credible’ conclusion.

However, the PPP request was turned down by the UN saying such a request should come through the ‘executive branch’ of the government.

The then government had opposed the international probe led by UN, although it had allowed limited investigations by a Scotland Yard team to ascertain the cause of Benazir Bhutto’s death.