Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto, An independent commission appointed by the UN is set to release its report into the assassination of ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack after addressing an election rally near Islamabad more than two years ago.

The commission was set up in July last year in response to a request from Pakistan.

The commission has delayed the report’s release for two weeks.

The delay came after an urgent request from Ms Bhutto’s widower, Pakistani President Asif Zardari.

Members of Ms Bhutto’s political party did not trust the military-led government running the country when she died.

And her widower, Mr Zardari, continued to call for a UN investigation even after he became president and his party was elected to power.

Strong emotions

The three-member panel was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms Bhutto’s death, not assign criminal responsibility.

But anything related to her assassination stirs up strong emotions, and suspense was heightened when Mr Zardari made a last-minute request to delay the report’s release by two weeks.

It is not clear why. The government said it wanted extra time to include input from Afghanistan, the United States and Saudi Arabia, three countries that had apparently warned Ms Bhutto of a death threat.

But while accepting the delay, the commission insisted its report was complete.

Pakistanis are waiting to see what it will add to an issue that has divided the country’s political class.

The former military leader, Pervez Musharraf, declared that the late head of the Pakistani Taliban, Beitullah Mehsud, was the assassin. And Ms Bhutto herself wrote that four suicide squads were after her, some linked to al-Qaeda.

But she also accused a group of senior politicians and intelligence officials of plotting to kill her, and many of her followers blame elements of the military establishment and Mr Musharraf’s government for her death.