UN commission to begin its probe into Benazir assassination from July 1

Islamabad, June 20 (ANI): The United Nations (UN) would begin its probe into the assassination of the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto from July 1.

The UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said that a UN commission would start its six-month investigation beginning next month.

Montas said that the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's husband, that the UN is committed to help Islamabad to bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible.

"Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informed Bhutto's husband, President Asif Ali Zardari, that the United Nations is committed to assisting Pakistan by determining the facts and circumstances of her death," Montas said.

The three member UN commission would be headed by Chile's U.N. Ambassador, Heraldo Munoz.

The other two members of the commission are the former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman, and Ireland's former deputy police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, The News reports.

Montas said that the commission would only enquire into the facts and circumstances of Bhutto's death, and that further action against the perpetrators would only be taken by the Pakistan government.

"The duty of determining criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of the assassination remains with the Pakistani authorities," Montas said.

Bhutto was killed on Decmber 27, 2007 in a gun-and-suicide bomb attack after she was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi. (ANI)