The United Nations stands by the report produced by its commission, which investigated the 2007 assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday in responding to a series of objections raised by the Pakistani government to the document.
Responding to a letter of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pointing out a spate of inaccuracies and unsubstantiated observations in the report, the UN chief reiterated his strong support for the three-member Commission, saying it carried out its work professionally.
Ban said the three-member commission, which was headed by Heraldo Munoz, Chile's former UN ambassador, conducted its inquiry under the Terms of Reference (TOR) agreed between the Government of Pakistan and the Secretariat and noted by the Security Council. The TOR called for a probe into "the facts and circumstances of the assassination of Ms Bhutto".
"The report painstakingly sets out the facts regarding the assassination and provides an extensive description of the circumstances around the crime," the secretary-general said through his spokesman Farhan Haq. But the text of the secretary-general letter was not made public. "The Secretary-General has full confidence in the Committee's judgement," the spokesman said.
"He believes that the report produced by the Commission speaks for itself and can be helpful to any subsequent investigation. The work of the Commission is complete. The Secretary-General stands by the report," spokesman Haq added. In his letter Foreign Minister Qureshi, counted, among other things, lack of attention paid to any international dimension of the tragic December 27, 2007 killing of the former prime minister.
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