Govt failed to protect BB, probe death: UNUNITED NATIONS: Pakistan failed to properly protect former prime minister Benazir Bhutto or investigate her December 2007 assassination, and it also hampered a United Nations inquiry, UN investigators reported on Thursday.
The 65-page report said that the inquiry commission believes the failure by Pakistani authorities to effectively investigate Bhutto's death was "deliberate." It added that the U.N. probe was "severely hampered" by intelligence agencies and government officials.
The finding comes from an independent commission appointed by the UN. The commission was set up in July last year in response to a request from Pakistan.
Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, 2007, weeks after she returned from eight years in self-imposed exile.
"While she died when a 15-and-a-half-year-old suicide bomber detonated his explosives near her vehicle, no one believes that this boy acted alone," the report said.
The report said that the country's president at the time of the assassination, General Pervez Musharraf, was aware of and tracking the many threats against Bhutto.
But Musharraf's government "did little more than pass on those threats to her and to provincial authorities and were not proactive in neutralizing them or ensuring that the security provided was commensurate to the threats," it said.
The report says her death could have been prevented if the government under then-President Musharraf, the government of the state of Punjab, and the Rawalpindi District Police had taken adequate measures.
It added that the U.N. probe was "severely hampered" by intelligence agencies and government officials.
"The commission was mystified by the efforts of certain high-ranking Pakistani government authorities to obstruct access to military and intelligence sources," it added.
Police security provided for Bhutto on the day of her killing was "fatally insufficient", it declared.
The commission also says it believes the Pakistani police failed to probe the death of Ms Bhutto was "deliberate".
"The commission believes that the failure of the police to investigate effectively Ms. Bhutto's assassination was deliberate," the report said. "These officials, in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken."
The commission urged Pakistani authorities to carry out a "serious, credible" criminal investigation that "determines who conceived, ordered and executed this heinous crime of historic proportions, and brings those responsible to justice."
"Doing so would constitute a major step toward ending impunity for political crimes in this country," it said.
The commission has delayed the report's release for two weeks. The delay came after an urgent request from Ms Bhutto's widower, Pakistani President Asif Zardari.
Members of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party did not trust the military-led government running the country when she died. And her widower and now country’s President, Mr Zardari, continued to call for a UN investigation even after he became president and his party was elected to power.
The three-member panel was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms Bhutto's death, not assign criminal responsibility.
But anything related to her assassination stirs up strong emotions, and suspense was heightened when Mr Zardari made a last-minute request to delay the report's release by two week.
Pakistan's presidential spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said the government asked for the delay so the commission could attempt to question two heads of state who he said had called Bhutto before her death warning her of "serious threats to her life." The commission responded saying its probe had been completed.
Under terms agreed to by the U.N. and the Pakistani government, Pakistani authorities would determine any criminal responsibility.
The secretary-general set up a special trust fund to pay for the commission's work and asked for voluntary contributions. U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday that the Pakistani government was the major contributor.
The 65-page report said that the inquiry commission believes the failure by Pakistani authorities to effectively investigate Bhutto's death was "deliberate." It added that the U.N. probe was "severely hampered" by intelligence agencies and government officials.
The finding comes from an independent commission appointed by the UN. The commission was set up in July last year in response to a request from Pakistan.
Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, 2007, weeks after she returned from eight years in self-imposed exile.
"While she died when a 15-and-a-half-year-old suicide bomber detonated his explosives near her vehicle, no one believes that this boy acted alone," the report said.
The report said that the country's president at the time of the assassination, General Pervez Musharraf, was aware of and tracking the many threats against Bhutto.
But Musharraf's government "did little more than pass on those threats to her and to provincial authorities and were not proactive in neutralizing them or ensuring that the security provided was commensurate to the threats," it said.
The report says her death could have been prevented if the government under then-President Musharraf, the government of the state of Punjab, and the Rawalpindi District Police had taken adequate measures.
It added that the U.N. probe was "severely hampered" by intelligence agencies and government officials.
"The commission was mystified by the efforts of certain high-ranking Pakistani government authorities to obstruct access to military and intelligence sources," it added.
Police security provided for Bhutto on the day of her killing was "fatally insufficient", it declared.
The commission also says it believes the Pakistani police failed to probe the death of Ms Bhutto was "deliberate".
"The commission believes that the failure of the police to investigate effectively Ms. Bhutto's assassination was deliberate," the report said. "These officials, in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken."
The commission urged Pakistani authorities to carry out a "serious, credible" criminal investigation that "determines who conceived, ordered and executed this heinous crime of historic proportions, and brings those responsible to justice."
"Doing so would constitute a major step toward ending impunity for political crimes in this country," it said.
The commission has delayed the report's release for two weeks. The delay came after an urgent request from Ms Bhutto's widower, Pakistani President Asif Zardari.
Members of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party did not trust the military-led government running the country when she died. And her widower and now country’s President, Mr Zardari, continued to call for a UN investigation even after he became president and his party was elected to power.
The three-member panel was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms Bhutto's death, not assign criminal responsibility.
But anything related to her assassination stirs up strong emotions, and suspense was heightened when Mr Zardari made a last-minute request to delay the report's release by two week.
Pakistan's presidential spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said the government asked for the delay so the commission could attempt to question two heads of state who he said had called Bhutto before her death warning her of "serious threats to her life." The commission responded saying its probe had been completed.
Under terms agreed to by the U.N. and the Pakistani government, Pakistani authorities would determine any criminal responsibility.
The secretary-general set up a special trust fund to pay for the commission's work and asked for voluntary contributions. U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday that the Pakistani government was the major contributor.
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