Bhutto husband calls for Hariri-style probe into assassination News
Bhutto husband calls for Hariri-style probe into assassination

[JURIST] The husband of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive] called Sunday for an international investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bhutto's assassination [JURIST report] last week. Asif Ali Zardari urged the United Nations to conduct an inquiry similar to the ongoing UN investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. Zardari's comments came the same day he and his 19-year-old son Bilawal Zardari were named by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) [party website] to succeed Bhutto as co-chairs of the opposition party.

Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide attack Thursday at a political rally in Rawalpindi. She was campaigning in the lead-up to January 8 parliamentary elections, where her party is challenging Pakistani Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) [party website]. The Pakistani government, which has said that al Qaeda was behind the assassination, has so far said that outside assistance into its investigation of the killing is not necessary. AP has more. AFP has additional coverage.

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