Bhutto assassination: UN team meets Pak officials

Islamabad, Apr.9 (ANI): A United Nations team is holding meetings with Pakistan Interior Ministry officials and law enforcing agencies on the progress made in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

According to The News, the team also discussed the expenses to be incurred on the proposed UN commission tasked with the responsibility of probing Bhutto's murder case.

Sources told Geo News that the initial estimate of the expenses has been made at Rs.200 million.

The meetings also exchanged views on the security of the UN mission in Pakistan.

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.

"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.

It maybe recalled that Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi as she was boarding her car after addressing a rally.

Though there is no clear indication as yet as to who was behind the killing, fingers have been pointed at Baitullah Mehsud, the commander of the Pakistan Taliban. Mehsud, however, has denied any role in the incident. (ANI)