Islamabad, Dec 31 (IANS) The Pakistani government has barred a UN team probing the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto from meeting the country’s top military leadership as part of its investigations.
In a letter to the Pakistani government, the commission head, Chilean Ambassador to the UN Heraldo Munoz, had sought access to top military and intelligence officials for interrogation, Online news agency reported.

Among those the commission specifically wanted to meet were Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, as also former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj and former Director General Military Intelligence Maj Gen Nadeem Ijaz, both of whom were in office when Bhutto was assassinated.

The government has, however, denied the commission permission to do so.

“The commission had shown a desire to meet the top leadership of the army and the intelligence setup for assistance in collecting the required information,” sources told Online.

The Pakistani government, the sources said, remained silent over the letter for some time, but after repeated requests by the UN Commission, the letter was forwarded to General Headquarters (GHQ).

The GHQ, in return, turned down the request, saying it was against the prestige of the army chief and other top military officials to stand before the UN commission for questioning, the sources said.

The GHQ also contended that the request was against the terms and conditions and agreement made with the UN Commission.

The UN Commission countered that under its terms and conditions, Islamabad was to provide access to any official or individual that the commission thought could throw light on Bhutto’s Dec 27, 2007 assassination in a gun and bomb attack as she left a political rally in the adjacent garrison town of Rawalpindi.

Pakistan had sought a UN probe earlier this year after its own investigations and those by Scotland Yard failed to make headway. This was because the area where the incident occurred was washed clean soon after the killing, destroying whatever evidence that might have been gathered.

In July, it was announced that the UN commission would have a limited mandate.

Its mandate does not include undertaking criminal investigations or prosecuting the perpetrators, which are the sole responsibility of the Pakistani government, a spokesperson for the office of the UN secretary general told reporters in New York.