| Musharraf rules out security lapse |
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| Thursday, 03 January 2008 | ||||
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Noting that those who remained inside were unharmed, he asked: "Who is to be blamed for her coming out of her vehicle?"
British help
Musharraf spoke as demands for an international investigation into the bombing and suicide attack that killed the two-time former prime minister intensified.
In an effort to blunt the criticism, he has invited Scotland Yard investigators to aid
"One should not give a statement that's 100 per cent final. That's the flaw that we suffer from," Musharraf said, noting that more evidence was emerging into the attack.
He said: "We needed more experience, maybe more forensic and technical experience that our people don't have. Therefore, I thought Scotland Yard may be more helpful."
Shortcomings
Musharraf also admitted there were shortcomings in
But he dismissed any suggestion there was a plan to conceal evidence.
"I'm
not fully satisfied. I will accept that: cleaning the area. Why did
they do that? If you are meaning they did that by design I would say
no. It's just inefficiency, people thinking things have to be cleared,
traffic has to go through," he said.
Musharraf
denied any security lapse, saying that Bhutto had been allowed to
choose the police superintendent in charge of her security, had four
mobile units and 30 officers with her, and more than 1,000 police were
deployed at the Rawalpindi rally where she was killed.
He said party officials should have stopped supporters from swarming her vehicle just before the attack, since any police action would have involved a baton charge or tear gas.
Key evidence
A senior police investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said that police had already secured key evidence from the scene, including the head of the suspected bomber, body parts, two pistols, and mobile phones.
Scotland Yard investigators, with their superior forensic techniques, could help determine whether either pistol was fired in the attack, he said.
Scotland Yard said it was sending a small team of officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counterterrorism Command.
David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, said the team would leave
PPP reaction
Many supporters of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have expressed doubt about the government's conclusion that she had been killed when a bomb blast slammed her head against her vehicle.
Bhutto supporters insist that a UN probe is the only way to reveal the truth about her killing, and reject a Pakistani investigation, even with British assistance.
"The regime has lost all credibility. Neither a domestic inquiry nor vague foreign involvement ... would lay to rest the lingering doubts and suspicions," Farhatullah Babar, a PPP spokesman, said.
The White House said it supported Scotland Yard's involvement, and that a UN investigation was not necessary now.
"Scotland Yard being in the lead in this investigation is appropriate and necessary and I don't see - we don't see a need for an investigation beyond that at this time," Dana Perino, US presidential spokeswoman, said.
Source: aljazeera.net           |
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