Scotland Yard mandated to determine cause of death

By Baqir Sajjad Syed

ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: The Scotland Yard team assisting local investigators in the probe into the assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto is mandated to determine the precise cause of her death, according to the terms of reference for the team released by the British High Commission on Friday.

The high commission said that the local authorities remained the principal investigators.

It made the terms of reference public after UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s commitment in the House of Commons regarding publication of the terms of reference. According to the text of the agreement between the Pakistani authorities and the British Metropolitan Police Service, “the principal purpose of the deployment is to assist the local authorities in providing clarity regarding the precise cause of Ms Bhutto’s death”.

The five-member Scotland Yard team comprising experts in crime investigation, forensics and evidence analysis had arrived last week Friday following a request by President Musharraf to assist in the investigation of the cause of the PPP leader’s death. The team was augmented by three more experts a week later.

The cause of Ms Bhutto’s death has become suspicious after doctors at the Rawalpindi General Hospital issued an inconclusive medical report and her husband Asif Ali Zardari refused to allow her autopsy. Some forensic evidences were also lost in the post-incident handling by civic agencies.

The task remains challenging in the absence of a comprehensive medical report and autopsy.

Explaining the mode of working of the team as per the agreement with the Pakistani authorities, the British High Commission said: “The team will provide forensic expertise and other investigative assistance as appears appropriate to senior officer detective superintendent Mr MacBrayne, who will lead the Metropolitan Police Service team. The

MPS officers will assist and report to the Pakistani investigators.”

The statement said that the primacy and responsibility for the investigations remained with the Pakistani authorities.