UN to Investigate Killing of Bhutto

An independent commission will be set up to identify the killers of the former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto ''with a view to bring them to justice'', the UN confirmed today.

The office of the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he had agreed to Pakistan's request for an independent inquiry.

A "broad understanding had been reached" on the nature of the commission, including how to pay for it; who its members should be; how to protect its independence and impartiality; and how to ensure its members have access to the information they need.

Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, announced the inquiry, telling reporters Ban would appoint ''well-respected, eminent people'' to the independent commission.

''We have reached an understanding, and there is a concrete decision on that,'' he said.

''The objectives are for the commission to identify the culprits, perpetrators, organizers and financiers of the assassination."

He said the intention was for it to be completed "in the shortest possible time" and not become "a lingering thing, going on for years".

Qureshi said Pakistan would help as much as possible.

"We have said that we will give unhindered access to sources of relevant information," he added.

Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi on December 27 at an election rally.

Earlier investigations by Pakistan's previous government, the British police and the CIA accused an al-Qaida-linked militant of killing Bhutto.

Bhutto was a staunch supporter of a US-led campaign against Islamist militancy.

British detectives from Scotland Yard found she died from a severe head injury sustained in a bomb blast.

The investigation conducted in Pakistan, however, found a lone attacker fired shots before detonating explosives, adding that the bullets were not the cause of death.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's party has not accepted either of these versions and demanded a wider inquiry investigated by the UN.