UNITED NATIONS, July 10: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday that the government had requested a UN investigation into the assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in order to preclude any impression of a witch-hunt.

“We have thoroughly considered its implications for our country, all the pros and cons before making the decision,” Mr Qureshi told Pakistani journalists here.

Mr Qureshi is scheduled to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to pursue his request for the establishment of an international commission for a probe into the PPP leader’s assassination.

He pointed out that Pakistan’s request was in line with the wishes expressed in the unanimous resolutions adopted by the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. All political parties had supported the decision to seek an investigation by an impartial, neutral organisation, he said.

“The people of Pakistan,” Mr Qureshi said, “had not accepted the results of the inquiry conducted in the wake of the gun-and-bomb attack that killed the PPP leader last December.

“They wanted an independent probe to get to the bottom of the conspiracy — who were behind the plot and who financed it? Our people have faith in this institution, its impartiality and neutrality to do the job,” he said.

Responding to a question, Mr Qureshi said that in demanding UN investigation Pakistan was not following the example of the special tribunal, set up by the UN Security Council to look into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Pakistan’s request was of an entirely different nature.

Asked whether Pakistan would seek a timeline within which the investigation should be completed by the world body, he said the investigation should be completed within a year.