UN begins Bhutto killing inquiry

A United Nations inquiry into the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir BhuttoBenazir Bhutto is to begin.

It is headed by Chile's ambassador to the UN, Heraldo Munoz, and includes a former Indonesian attorney general and a former senior Irish police officer.

The inquiry will last six months and investigate the "facts and circumstances" of Ms Bhutto's killing.

She was killed in December 2007 as she left a rally of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) supporters in Rawalpindi.

These are challenging times in Pakistan to carry out such an investigation, not least because the Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, accused by the last government here of being behind the assassination, is the target of a two-month-old military offensive and his militant network has hit back with retaliatory suicide attacks.

Mehsud has denied having anything to do with Ms Bhutto's killing.

'Rogue elements'

Her assassination left questions unresolved for many people here, but especially her own party, which is now in government.

After she had narrowly escaped a double suicide bombing on the day of her arrival back in Pakistan from self-imposed exile in October 2007, she accused what she called "enemies" and "rogue elements" in the then-government led by President Pervez MusharrafPresident Pervez Musharraf and in the intelligence agencies of plotting to kill her.

The UN inquiry cannot itself launch criminal proceedings, but can apparently apportion blame if it chooses to do so.

Officials say the inquiry will work "fairly discreetly".

Security is clearly an issue, and they say they do not want to compromise the investigation in any way.