May 31, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 30: The United Nations has been formally requested to investigate Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and a formal note has been handed over to Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Munir Akram who will hand it over to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Mr Akram has left for New York and will deliver the request soon,” an official of the Foreign Office said. Pakistan has urged the UN to form a commission to expose ‘perpetrators, financiers and the mastermind’ of the December 27 assassination through an independent and impartial investigation.

The government said that it was seeking an international probe because it suspected an ‘international conspiracy’ behind the assassination and uncovering such a conspiracy was ‘beyond the capacity of local investigators’.

Earlier, the government had planned to send a delegation to the UN, but because of some difficulties, it decided to ask its permanent representative at the UN to submit the request.

“The secretary-general’s office proposed certain dates, but the foreign minister had other commitments.”

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would visit New York for lobbying with the permanent members of the Security Council for early constitution of the commission.