Dim chances of Pak taking tough action following UN report: Envoy

New York, Apr.18 (ANI): Despite the UN commission's report over former Prime Minister Benzir Bhutto's assassination presenting a clear and factual picture of circumstances leading to the tragic incident, there are dim chances of Islamabad taking concrete steps to address security and judicial failures, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, has said.

Haroon said there have been several tragedies that his country has witnessed since partition, but it has hardly learnt its lessons.

"I have witnessed history in my country for the last 60 years and nothing is ever taken to conclusion.We have had great trauma in Pakistan that did not lead to reform," Bloomberg quoted Haroon, as saying.

The 65-page UN inquiry report called for "police reform measures" to "operate in a structure of accountability for protecting the rights of the individual."

The report stressed that the investigation which followed Bhutto's death "lacked direction, was ineffective and suffered from a lack of commitment to identify and bring all of the perpetrators to justice."

Haroon said despite several disasters, including the 'loss of East Pakistan' (Bangladesh), and the execution of Benazir Bhutto's father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, the country has failed to produce better leadership.

"We started off in undivided India, and went our way knowing we could do better. We did in the first 25 years. Then we decided to go in mad directions and policies and since then it has been all the way down," Haroon lamented.

"Pakistan now needs strong leadership and incorruptible leadership," he said.

Haroon also rejected the statement by a top US official, saying Pakistan does not needs America's help in building democracy in the country.

"I don't think you can help anything. When the US was not a democracy, in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, we were a democracy," he said.

It is worth mentioning here that just a day ago, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley had said the White House would continue to help Islamabad to strengthen its institutions.

"We will continue to work with Pakistan, to make sure that we build the institutions of democracy going forward and help them defend them as well," Crowley had said. (ANI)