Ban Ki-Moon announces commission to probe Bhutto assassination

Islamabad, Feb 5: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. ''On the basis of our extensive consultations with the government of Pakistan and members of the Security Council, I intend to establish very shortly an independent commission of inquiry headed by a very distinguished person, whom I am going to nominate soon,'' Secretary-General Ban said at a banquet hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari. The UN chief said he was aware that the issue of Bhutto's assassination was a matter of great importance to the people of Pakistan. Dawn newspaper quoted sources in New York as saying that ambassador of Chile to the UN, Heraldo Munoz, would lead the three-member UN inquiry commission. Mr Dar Usman of Indonesia would be a member of the commission while the third member would be from Sweden whose name could not be ascertained. Mr Ban paid rich tributes to the slain PPP leader and said her assassination had ''shocked and offended the world''. President Zardari thanked the secretary-general for accepting Pakistan's request for conducting a UN probe into the assassination. Mr Zardari thanked the UN chief for his ''great interest in setting up of a Fact Finding Commission on Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto''. ''We hope that the three- member Commission would soon commence its operations,'' he said, adding the people of Pakistan hope this Commission would determine the facts and circumstances of the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and his wife Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. ''We believe that the Commission's findings will lead to eventually exposing the financers, perpetrators, organisers, sponsors and conspirators of this terrorist act and bring them to justice,'' he added. (UNI)

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