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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Ban Ki-moon says he stands by UN report on Benazir’s murder* UN secretary general says the commission carried out its work professionally
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations stands by the report produced by its commission, which investigated the 2007 assassination of former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday.
Responding to objections raised in a letter by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the UN chief reiterated his strong support for the three-member commission, saying it carried out its work professionally.
Ban said the three-member commission, which was headed by Heraldo Munoz, Chile’s former UN ambassador, conducted its inquiry under the terms of reference (TOR) agreed to between the Pakistan government and the UN Secretariat and noted by the Security Council. The terms called for a probe into “the facts and circumstances of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto”.
“The report painstakingly sets out the facts regarding the assassination and provides an extensive description of the circumstances around the crime,” the secretary-general said through his spokesman Farhan Haq. However, the text of the secretary general’s letter was not made public.
“The secretary general has full confidence in the committee’s judgement,” the spokesman said. “He believes that the report produced by the commission speaks for itself and can be helpful to any subsequent investigation. The work of the commission is complete. The secretary-general stands by the report,” spokesman Haq added.
In his letter, Foreign Minister Qureshi counted, among other things, lack of attention paid to any international dimension of the tragic December 27, 2007 murder of the former prime minister. He also took issue with repeated but un-evidenced finger-pointing at the role of Pakistani security agencies and the establishment. At the same time, the letter, which was issued on Thursday as a document of the United Nations, said the Pakistan government was taking steps to investigate the assassination.
The commission presented its report to the secretary-general on April 15 after months of investigation in Pakistan.
The commission had interviewed many security officials as well as politicians in Pakistan. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk