ISLAMABAD, March 27: The newly-appointed Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior, Mr Rehman Malik, said on Thursday that the new government would bring killers of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to justice.

Mr Malik told newsmen that a fresh probe into Ms Bhutto’s assassination would be conducted by the PPP-led coalition government under the auspices of the United Nations.

“We will send a formal request to the UN Security Council in this regard,” he said.

In reply to a question about acts of terrorism taking place in different parts of the country, he said the government would never hold talks with terrorists who would have to surrender voluntarily.

He said the last government’s policy of war on terror could be continued. He, however, made it clear that the coalition government did not want Pakistan to become a victim of the US-led international war on terror.

“We do not want to see devastating effects of the war on terror in Pakistan,” he said.

The adviser said that militants should not tarnish the name of Islam by carrying out their un-Islamic deeds in the name of the sacred religion of Islam. He pledged to rid the country of the menace of extremism.

He said the government would adopt a tough policy against forces of extremism and terrorism and establish its writ across the country.

Mr Malik has been given the office of former interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, an indication that there would be no interior minister in the new set-up. He is likely to work both as adviser to prime minister and interior minister.