Pak 'jittery' over UN response to Qureshi's objections on BB murder probe

Islamabad, July 15 (ANI): Pakistan has directed its envoy to the United Nations (UN) Abdullah Hussain Haroon to urge the world body to tone down its reply over Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi letter in which he had criticised the UN inquiry commission which probed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

The Pakistan government fears a tough response from UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon over Qureshi's objections, The Nation reports.

The letter pointed out a series of "unsubstantiated" observations in the inquiry commission's report, saying that its inferences hold no credence at any level.

Islamabad is particularly disgruntled with repeated finger-pointing at the role of country's security agencies, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the state, as well as the questionable role of PPP leaders Rehman Malik and Babar Awan in the UN enquiry commission's report.

It is worth mentioning here that Ki-moon has already rejected Pakistan's objections, but the full text of the secretary general's response has not been made public yet.

In his response to Qureshi's response, Ki-moon said he fully backs the UN's three-man committee which probed the December 2007 murder, and that it carried out its work 'professionally'.

The secretary general underlined that the commission, which was headed by Heraldo Munoz, Chile's former UN ambassador, conducted its inquiry under the terms of reference (TOR) agreed to between the Pakistan government and the UN Secretariat, and noted by the Security Council.

"The report painstakingly sets out the facts regarding the assassination and provides an extensive description of the circumstances around the crime," Ki-moon's spokesman Farhan Haq had said earlier. (ANI)