PPP examining Benazir report, HRCP dissatisfied

Karachi, Feb.10 : Legal experts of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) are reportedly examining the Scotland Yard report on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

After the examination, their conclusions will be submitted to the party leadership for deliberation, The News reported.

Senator Farooq H. Naek, a legal adviser to the Bhutto family, said the leadership would announce the party's position over the issue after examining the report fully.

Naek said he is likely to discuss the Scotland Yard findings with PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari today.

He said the 70-page report had established at least one thing clearly, which was that Benazir Bhutto's death was not accidental as claimed by the government.

Naek said that the PPP had been calling for a UN-led probe into the assassination because it not only wanted to establish the cause of Bhutto's death, but also expose the elements behind her murder.

In a related development, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said that Scotland Yard findings do not satisfy the basic requirements of any investigation.

"There is also a contradiction in the report as all those present in the car of the late Bhutto confirmed that the explosion took place seconds after she slumped back into her seat in the vehicle," it said in a statement here on Saturday.

The Dawn quoted the HRCP as saying that a categorical conclusion in the absence of basic forensic and freedom of deposition by doctors could only be viewed as a hunch of the investigators.

The commission said the murder of Benazir Bhutto had left a huge vacuum in the political arena and severe wounds on the people of Pakistan.

"Uncovering the truth of this most tragic crime is crucial for Pakistan," it said.

Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne, accompanied by a senior official from the British High Commission, had handed over the detailed report into the assassination to caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz in Islamabad on Friday.

ANI