Islamabad - An investigation team from Britain's Scotland
Yard submitted Friday a much-anticipated preliminary report on the
assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to her family
and the Pakistani government.
The report's contents were due to be released by Pakistan's
Interior Ministry Friday afternoon.
The New York Times said in a report Friday that Scotland Yard
concluded Bhutto died after cracking her head on the sunroof of her
security vehicle after she was hit by the force of a suicide
explosion as she waved to supporters following a campaign rally on
December 27.
The Times report said Bhutto did not die from a gunshot wound
despite being fired on at close range by an attacker with a pistol
seconds before the explosion, confirming government claims made hours
after the blast.
Embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sought the
assistance of Britain after Bhutto's family and supporters rejected
the government's claims and demanded an independent inquiry by the
United Nations.
'The British inquiry also determined that a lone gunman, whose
image was captured in numerous photographs at the crime scene, also
caused the explosion,' a Pakistani official told the newspaper.
Bhutto's family has refused to give much weight to Scotland Yard,
saying it was only working within the terms and references set by the
Pakistani authorities that limited it to assisting in analyzing
forensic evidence.
The Pakistani government has accused Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban
commander in the country's tribal areas who is allegedly linked to
al-Qaeda, of masterminding the gun and suicide bombing attack, as
well as dozens of other suicide bombings against security forces in
the past year.
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