UNITED NATIONS United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon assured President Asif Zardari on Thursday that he would expedite the process of forming an independent inquiry commission to probe the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Zardari, who met the UN chief here, asked Moon to speed up the appointment of the commission.

Meanwhile, Moon urged Zardari to persist in its dialogues 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 (into the assassination of Benazir) and would explore further the precise modalities and brief of such a Commission,” said a statement from Secretary-General Office at the UN headquarters.

The statement added that Zardari and the UN chief discussed recent developments in Pakistan as well as the Pakistani governments request for an inquiry commission into the circumstances of the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.

“The Secretary-General offered his condolences, not only on the presidents personal loss but also the loss of so many Pakistanis in the recent terrorist bombing in Islamabad,” it said.

“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 added.