Officially, according to Scotland Yard, the New York Times reports, Benazir Bhutto died as a result of hitting her head, not because of a bullet fired from some distance as most suspect.
Investigators from Scotland Yard have concluded that Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader, died after hitting her head as she was tossed by the force of a suicide blast, not from an assassin’s bullet, officials who have been briefed on the inquiry said Thursday.
The findings support the Pakistani government’s explanation of Ms. Bhutto’s death in December, an account that had been greeted with disbelief by Ms. Bhutto’s supporters, other Pakistanis and medical experts.
These results of the official investigation will not go down well in Pakistan.
Colleagues of Ms Bhutto in the Pakistan People’s Party called for an independent United Nations investigation, and Human Rights Watch said that Scotland Yard should step back from the inquiry. A spokesman for the human rights group said: “Pakistan’s investigation into Bhutto’s murder lacks independence, transparency and credibility. Scotland Yard should not tarnish its reputation by lending its imprimatur to this dubious inquiry.”
As the Times of London goes on to report, Scotland Yard was obliged to assist the Musharraf government. When Scotland Yard was ask to assist in the investigation (read: give the investigation some legitimacy), it weighed in its own need for a good working relationship with the Pakistani government.
Almost every terrorist attack or plot against Britain in the past five years has had links to Pakistan and the al-Qaeda training camps in its tribal areas. Access to Pakistan and cooperation with its police and intelligence services is essential to Scotland Yard and the relationship can be fragile.
Of course, a thorough, credible result of the investigation was impossible from the start. The Pakistani authorities had already removed all evidence from the site of Bhutto's assassination and prevented an autopsy.
The British officers faced serious difficulties. They were not able to examine the body of Ms Bhutto and vital evidence had been destroyed at the crime scene when it was hosed down after the attack.
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