Lawyer says Bhutto autopsy prevented

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The police chief of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, did not permit an autopsy on slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a lawyer said Monday.

The allegation by Athar Minallah, a lawyer on the Rawalpindi Hospital Board, came after a new videotape showing Bhutto, who was killed Thursday at a political rally in Rawalpindi, slumping just after gunshots rang out, CNN reported.

The report said the videotape, showing she was shot, offered the clearest view thus far of the incident.

Minallah said hospital doctors "suggested to the officials to perform an autopsy" but that Police Chief Aziz Saud "did not agree," saying that under the law, police investigators had "exclusive responsibility" on whether to have an autopsy, the report said.

Minallah was quoted as saying that without an autopsy there's a perception of "some kind of coverup, though I might not believe in that theory."

The Pakistani government has said Bhutto died after fracturing her skull on the sunroof latch when she ducked or fell into the car after the shots and explosion.

A government spokesman said the government has no objection to exhuming the body for an autopsy upon request of the family. Bhutto's husband has opposed such a move, saying the family does not trust the government, the report said.