Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has announced that the PPP would directly approach the United Nations on Wednesday for a probe into the killing of Benazir Bhutto after the government rejected his request in this regard.
Addressing a hurriedly-called press conference after meeting the Scotland Yard team at the Bilawal House here on Tuesday, Zardari declared that the PPP would also launch a worldwide campaign to explain why an investigation by the United Nations was necessary.
Asif Zardari, who arrived here from Larkana to meet the Scotland Yard team, claimed that the murder of Benazir Bhutto was the most deserving case to be probed by the United Nations. Giving arguments to support his claim, Asif Zardari said the government itself was claiming that al-Qaeda was involved in the assassination of Ms Bhutto and the organisation had bases outside Pakistan, which was a reason enough to call for the UN probe.
He said secondly, the PPP had no faith in the government-sponsored probe as it was incapable of exposing the hidden but powerful conspirators. He said the Scotland Yard team had a limited mandate and its terms of reference were limited only to investigate the cause of the death and not to expose the perpetrators and organisers of the plot.
The PPP leader said after the attack on Benazir Bhutto on Oct 18 in Karachi, the UN called upon all nations to assist in exposing ‘the perpetrators, financers, planners and organisers’ of the attack.
He said this UN resolution was also binding on Pakistan while the world body, after her assassination on Dec 27, also expressed its willingness to assist in the probe if asked by the Pakistani government.
He said another reason was the letter of Benazir Bhutto written to President Musharraf on Oct 16 in which she mentioned the names of some suspects whom the state agencies could not interrogate.
He said distinguished international figures, including some Congressmen, also supported a probe by the United Nations while there were some individuals who were ready to testify on oath as to what Benazir Bhutto had told them a few days before her assassination.
Zardari said he provided some evidences to the Scotland Yard team while promised to give more after consultation with the party. Rejecting President Musharraf’s stance on investigation by a UN commission, Zardari said he had talked to his friends, including former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, HRCP Chairperson Asma Jahangir, and quoted from the UN documents which supported the PPP view.
When asked as to why he refused to carry out her post-mortem, Zardari said the body of Benazir Bhutto remained in the hospital for more than six hours and they could carry out a post-mortem during this period as he reached Islamabad after six hours of her death.
He alleged that in fact the government was trying to protect the killers under one pretext or the other. Zardari did not agree with a questioner who asked for his comments about President Musharraf’s remarks that Benazir Bhutto was not popular in the Army and said it was not the son of dictator Ziaul Haq but the PPP’s Zamrad Khan who had won a seat from Rawalpindi, considered to be a bastion of the military.
He said the Bilawal House in Karachi was the property of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the party would seek permission from him to convert it into a museum. AFP adds: “I along with other party leaders met the Scotland Yard team in Karachi and I gave them some evidence,” Zardari told reporters here on Tuesday.
He did not say what kind of evidence he provided to the British squad. “They had some questions… We will now consult other party leaders and give them further evidence,” added Zardari.