Musharraf govt.'deliberately' failed to provide security cover to Benazir: UN report

New York, Apr.16 (ANI): The much awaited United Nations (UN) enquiry commission's report over former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination has blamed the then Musharraf government of 'deliberately' failing to probe the December 2007 gun and bomb attack, saying the tragedy could have been averted if adequate security arrangements would have been made.

"The Musharraf government failed to provide foolproof security to Ms. Bhutto which ultimately allowed a lethal assault on her. The security breach left wide-open room for an attack to happen," the report said in its opening remarks.

The enquiry commission, headed by Chilean Ambassador to the UN, Heraldo Munoz, in its report said that none of the concerned authorities from the federal government to the Punjab and the Rawalpindi district police took necessary action to prevent the terror attack on Bhutto despite having information regarding the threat posed by extremists.

"Bhutto's assassination could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been taken. The responsibility for Bhutto's security on the day of her assassination rested with the federal government, the government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi district police. None of these entities took the necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary, fresh, urgent security risks that they knew she face," the 65-page enquiry report said.

The enquiry commission pointed out that the probe by the Pakistani agencies 'lacked direction, was ineffective and suffered from a lack of commitment to identify and bring all of the perpetrators to justice.'

"These officials, in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken," The News quoted the report, as saying.

It may be noted that the UN probe commissions was tasked with establishing the facts and circumstances of the attack and was not empowered to identify the perpetrators.

The report was due to be published on March 30, but it was delayed by two weeks on the request of the Pakistani authorities. (ANI)