ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday that investigation into the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto would be carried out with the help of Scotland Yard.

In his address to the nation, he said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had accepted Pakistan’s request to send Scotland Yard investigators.

The president said that confusion relating to the assassination of Ms Bhutto, whom he repeatedly called Shaheed in his 30-minute speech, would have to be removed and that all kinds of photo-clips and witnesses would be examined with the help of British police to arrive at a conclusion.

He said Pakistan’s law-enforcement agencies would now have all possible forensic and technical support of Scotland Yard.

“I am sure now all doubts will disappear about the killing of late PPP leader who was a great supporter of democracy and an ardent critic of terrorism and extremism.”

He said everybody was talking about the murder of Ms Bhutto. “In fact all kinds of opinion are being expressed and the only way to deal with this issue is to invite experts from Britain and I am sure they will be quite helpful in this matter”.He pointed out that the objective of associating Scotland Yard was to find out the truth and effectively deal with allegations and conspiracy theories.

The president did not say anything about the Pakistan People’s Party’s demand to get the murder investigated under the auspices of the United Nations.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari immediately rejected the president’s decision to invite Scotland Yard and demanded a UN probe similar to the investigation into the death of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

President Musharraf directly accused Baitullah Mehsud and Maulana Fazlullah of killing Ms Bhutto.

“I have no doubt that Baitullah Mehsud of South Waziristan and Fazlullah of Swat, who were previously involved in the killing of many innocent people including those in Sargodha, Kohat and Rawalpindi, have got Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto killed,” he said. The president also announced that he had directed the caretaker prime minister to prepare a “compensation package” for the poor people who had suffered financial losses during three days of violence.

The nation, he said, had suffered a loss of billions of rupees and the matter needed to be fully investigated. He said a decision had been taken to apprehend criminal elements involved in loot and arson, particularly in Sindh.

The president also declared that the army would be deployed across the country during and after the elections to support police and other law-enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order.

He said that the army and Rangers were being deployed to protect the lives and property of the people. “We will not allow any agitation,” he said.

“I never wanted that the army should be blamed for everything and I have avoided deployment of troops other than Sindh, but now we are simply helpless and will have to deploy the army across Pakistan,” he said.

The president said he was aware of the sorrow and anger in the PPP ranks, particularly among “Sindhi brothers”. He regretted that while the PPP leaders and workers were expressing their outrage and grief over the martyrdom of their leader, some miscreants and political elements had indulged in destroying public and private property, including houses, offices, shops and vehicles. “This lawlessness has brought unthinkable loss to the country,” he said, adding that daily-wage earners were particularly hit by the violence as they could not go to work for three days with the result that their families slept without eating anything.

The entire railway system, he said, had been brought to a standstill as a large number of bogies and tracks were destroyed. He regretted that the miscreants did not even spare the offices of Maulana Edhi.

The president said that the most frightening thing was that criminals got a number of prisoners released by attacking jails across the country. These prisoners, he said, were involved in loot and plunder and must be arrested immediately for which he had issued a directive to the caretaker prime minister. He said some miscreants were involved in loot by displaying rocket-launchers and machineguns, especially in Sindh.

Without naming the PML-Q, he said that a particular political party had been targeted by those who were involved in the destruction. “What we have done in the last eight years in the shape of development was greatly marginalised during three days of riots and violence,” he lamented.

He said he had asked the prime minister to set up a commission to assess the losses. He said that FIRs and cases would be registered against those involved in the destruction.

He defended the postponement of elections and said that since offices of the Election Commission had been attacked and destroyed, it was difficult for the chief election commissioner to hold the polls on January 8. “This was my personal desire to see the holding of election on schedule but perhaps this is not possible under the circumstances,” he added.

The president once again assured that the February 18 elections would be held in a fair, free, transparent and peaceful manner. “I have added the word peaceful and we will make sure that polls are free of violence and rigging”.

He appealed to all the political parties to forge unity and work for national reconciliation to deal with the situation. Pakistan, he said, was already facing serious problems and political parties should avoid compounding them.

“This is not the time for confrontation, but reconciliation and I appeal to all the political parties to realise the seriousness and the gravity of the situation so that we can avoid having more problems for our homeland,” he said.

Shaheed Mohtarma’s mission, he said, was to promote democracy and fight against terrorism and radicalism and that was also his objective. He said he hoped that after the elections, a democratic and elected government would be set up which would work for the progress and development of the country.

The president reiterated that terrorism and extremism were the two real dangers for Pakistan which would have to be defeated by the collective efforts of all the Pakistanis.

He appealed to the local and foreign print and electronic media to avoid providing space to terrorists and extremists. He called for exposing them so that Pakistan could be saved from the menace of militancy and terrorism.

He said it was also necessary to find out the root cause of terrorism and extremism which, he said, were the real dangers for the very existence of Pakistan.