UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon assured Pakistan President Asif Zardari on Thursday that he would expedite formation of an impendent inquiry commission to probe into the circumstances of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Mr Zardari in a meeting with the UN chief asked him to hasten the appointment of such a commission.

Mr Ban urged Mr Zardari “to persist in its dialogue both with India and Afghanistan”.

“It was agreed that the UN would see what it could to support the request for an independent fact-finding commission and would explore further the precise modalities and brief of such a commission,” said a statement from Secretary General’s office.

The statement also said that Mr Zardari and the UN chief “discussed recent developments in Pakistan as well as the Pakistani government’s request for a commission of inquiry into the circumstances of the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.”

“The secretary-general offered his condolences, not only on the president’s personal loss but also the loss of so many Pakistanis in the recent terrorist bombing in Islamabad.

“The secretary-general encouraged Pakistan to persist in its dialogue both with India and Afghanistan.

It was agreed that the UN would see what it could to support the request for an independent fact-finding commission and would explore further the precise modalities and brief of such a commission,” the statement said.