U.N. to probe Bhutto assassination

NEW YORK, July 11 (UPI) -- The United Nations has agreed to set up an independent commission to investigate the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Speaking to reporters at the United Nations in New York, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his country's request for such a commission was accepted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party, which now leads the ruling coalition, was killed last December after leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi.

Qureshi said Ban indicated further consultation with Pakistan and other U.N. members would be required to determine the structure of the commission, the report said. A U.N. statement confirmed a broad understanding for the commission had been reached

"The objectives are for the commission to identify the culprits, perpetrators, organizers and financiers of the assassination," Qureshi said.

Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's husband and a leader of the coalition government, has been insisting on a U.N. investigation. His party rejected the findings of an official inquiry conducted after the incident, saying it did not trust the government of President Pervez Musharraf.