ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – British anti-terror police joined the inquiry into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto yesterday, invited by Pakistan's president in an effort to dispel accusations of government involvement.
President Pervez Musharraf also wants to quell growing demands for a U.N. investigation into the shooting and bombing attack that killed the former prime minister after a campaign rally Dec. 27.
He said the Scotland Yard investigators would provide forensic and technical expertise but warned that they would not be allowed to go on a “wild goose chase and create a political disturbance.”
The British officers declined to comment to reporters as they arrived at Islamabad airport yesterday.
“Here's a situation where maybe we need to go beyond ourselves to prove to the world and our people here, who are emotionally charged, that we don't mind going to any extent, as nobody is involved from the government side or the agencies,” Musharraf said.
The president, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, met yesterday with senior security officials and the heads of the nation's provinces to assess the damage caused by four days of rioting sparked by Bhutto's killing, Pakistan state radio reported. Officials in Bhutto's Sindh province, the site of the worst rioting, estimate about $1.3 billion in damage.
Musharraf and his advisers discussed ways to maintain order in the country ahead of parliamentary elections, which were postponed for six weeks until Feb. 18 following the unrest, the state radio reported.
The government initially said the opposition leader was killed when the shock waves from the bomb slammed her head into her vehicle. Her supporters say she was killed by a gunman and accuse the government of a cover up.
Tomorrow in Parade magazine: In one of the last person-to-person interviews conducted with Benazir Bhutto before her assassination, the former prime minister spoke of terrorism and threats to her life.
