Pak to discuss Bhutto murder probe during UN chief’s visit: Gilani

Islamabad, Feb 2 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government would this week discuss with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon its progress in requesting the United Nations to probe former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

"Very soon we are evolving a strategy for that," Gilani replied, when asked whether his government would convey its request for a probe to the UN Secretary General, who is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Wednesday.

Gilani said that his government wanted a probe by the United Nations because it did not want the investigations to be "prejudiced and politicised."

After Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and suicide bomb attack during an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, Pakistan asked the UN to establish a commission to investigate the killing, The News reported.

Last December, a spokesman for Ban said the UN leader hoped such a commission could be established soon but that further consultation with Pakistan "was needed to examine the commission''s structure, including its scope and mandate."

The Pakistani Government has accused Tehrik-i-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud of plotting Bhutto's murder, a charge he denies.