UN extends mandate for commission probing Benazir's assassination - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has accepted the demand of extending the mandate of the commission probing the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto until late March to enable it to complete its work, The News reports. According to Ki-moon's spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, following the commission's call for extending the mandate, the UN Secretary General has notified both the Pakistani government and the UN Security Council about the decision. The three-member commission, headed by Chilean Ambassador to the UN, Munoz, which began its work on July 1, was mandated to submit its report identifying the facts and circumstances concerning Bhutto's tragic death in December 2007 to Ki-moon by December,31,2009. However, last month, the commission had sought extension saying its work was affected by the chaotic situation in Pakistan. Bhutto, the first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed on December 27, 2007 in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi. An investigation by British agencies also said that Bhutto was killed by the force of a suicide bomb and not by gunfire, supporting the Pakistan government's controversial account of how the leader died.