Scotland Yard team demands Bhutto's post-mortem

Islamabad, Jan 11: Scotland Yard team, probing into the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is facing difficulties and demanded the slain leader's post-mortem.

The Scotland Yard team, before their arrival in Pakistan, had already expressed the challenges the government might face during the course of investigation, The Nation newspaper reported today. However, on special invitation of President Pervez Musharraf, who had admitted that Pakistani investigation team had made mistakes in the initial probe, the UK detectives arrived here to accomplish the difficult task.

The post-mortem and forensic evidence, collected from the crime site, are the two important things in the investigations. But, in this case the post-mortem of Benazir Bhutto was not carried out on the request of her husband Asif Ali Zardari, whereas the site of the blast was also washed down soon after the attack.

Due to all this, the Scotland Yard team is facing grave difficulties in the investigation, sources added.

However, the team has managed to collect some forensic evidences, reconstructed the crime scene, recorded statements of witnesses and the medical team of Rawalpindi General Hospital, who attended Benazir Bhutto to save her life after the attack.

According to sources, on the given complicated situation, the UK team has expressed its concerns and asked the authorities that without the post-mortem of Bhutto's body, it would be impossible to reach any conclusion.

They also took up the issue with President Musharraf during a meeting on Tuesday and received his assurances of full support.

Mr Zardari, husband of late Benazir Bhutto, has demanded an independent UN probe and expressed mistrust over the investigation being carried out by the Scotland Yard. On the other hand, the government has blamed the alleged al-Qaeda militant, Baitullah Mesud, for organising the assassination. However, Baitullah had denied his involvement.

UNI