UN dismisses Pak's plea for reopening Bhutto case

United Nations, Apr 1: A day after accepting Pakistan's request to delay the release of report on Bhutto's assassination, United Nations on Thursday dismissed the plea to reopen the independent probe into the murder as the report is 'complete'.

"The Commissioners have informed the United Nations that the report is complete," UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told journalists here.

"They believe that they have finished their work and that there is no need to include any further information. It is for them to consider whether they need to change their report," he said.

UN accepted Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's request to delay the release of the report until Apr 15 on the grounds that it wanted the panel to include inputs of three goverments, who Pakistan claimed had warned Bhutto about the possible threats to her life.

"We suggested to the commission that it would be helpful if the viewpoint of those three countries and their heads of governments, which had warned (Bhutto), are also incorporated," Pakistan"s presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar

However, Nesirky said that the reopening of the case in the wake of Pakistan's claim is unlikely as the three-member panel, headed by Chile"s UN envoy Heraldo Munoz, had enough information.

"Commissioners have seen a considerable amount of relevant information, including what has been in the news media in recent days, " said Nesirky.

"After conferring in light of the latest information, they continue to say that they have completed their work," he said.

The UN panel was due to submit its report based on nine months of inquiry to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon when Zardari requested for the delay by a forthnight.

Bhutto was killed after an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi city on Dec 27, 2007.

The previous goverment, led by headed by allies of former President and Army Chief Pervez Musharraf, blamed the then Pakistani Taliban leader and al Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in the drone attack on Aug 2009, as the one responsible for Bhutto's death.

OneIndia News