Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Findings of Bhutto commission final: Ban

Rejecting Pakistan's appeal to reopen the U.N. probe into the assassination of the former Premier, Benazir Bhutto, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said “the work of the commission is complete”.

Last week, Islamabad had raised objections to the report that was presented by a U.N.-appointed three-member panel in April.

“The work of the Commission is complete,” said Farhan Haq, spokesperson for the U.N. chief. “The Secretary-General stands by the report and has full confidence in the Committee's judgement,” said the spokesman.

In a letter addressed to Mr. Ban, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had objected over several aspects of the report of the U.N. commission, including the panel's observations implying a nexus between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban.

“Comments and observations about the Pakistani Army, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) or the so-called Establishment, are only the opinions of the members of the Commission,” said the letter.

Benazir Bhutto was killed on December 27, 2007 when a suicide bomber exploded himself close to her car in Rawalpindi while she was campaigning for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in parliamentary and provincial elections.

The inquiry of commission which was set up in 2009 to ascertain the facts and circumstances of Bhutto's death, concluded that the assassination could have been prevented.

The three-member fact finding commission, which was headed by Chile's former U.N. ambassador Heraldo Munoz, presented its report on April 15.

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