Pak gives 1.5 million dollar 'seed money' to UN for Benazir probe

United Nations, Mar. 7 (ANI): The Pakistan Government has given 1.5 million dollars as seed money to the United Nations Secretariat to partially cover the cost of a three-member fact-finding commission to probe the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

"The money has been received, I can confirm that," The Daily Times quoted UN Secretary-General's spokeswoman Michele Montas, as saying.

Montas said it was a significant step towards facilitating the probe commission, which would be headed by Chile's UN Ambassador Haraldo Munoz.

She, however, said that the commission was yet to be completed.

Indonesia's Marzuki Dar Usman will be a member of the commission, but no decision has been made on its third member. A member from Sweden or Norway is likely to feature in the commission.

Earlier, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had written a letter to the Security Council saying, "The international commission would be funded by voluntary contributions from member states."

Pakistan has offered to provide 'seed money' to an appropriate United Nations trust fund to help an early deployment of the security and technical assessment missions.

Currently, the Secretariat is assessing the size and nature of a Pakistani contribution, while stressing on the importance of maintaining independence in the probe. (ANI)