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Bhutto questions bombing inquiry

Officials reject a call for outside assistance.

By WASHINGTON POST
Published October 23, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan - Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Monday said that government officials are seeking to obstruct a thorough investigation into last week's devastating suicide attack on her convoy because "some people are being protected."

The allegation came after the government rejected her request that international experts be brought in to assist with the investigation.

"If people have nothing to hide, they will be open to working with experts from all over the world," she told reporters Monday at her family compound in Karachi. "I would be simply appalled if the government of Pakistan declined" to bring in international experts.

Bhutto narrowly survived an assassination attempt late Thursday that killed 140 people during a massive procession to mark her homecoming from eight years of exile. She has said she believes Islamic extremists were behind the attack. But she has also suggested they had help from current and former government officials.

"There are very powerful figures behind the assassination attempt on me," she said.

Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan dismissed the accusation and criticized Bhutto for suggesting that Pakistan is not up to the job of investigating. "It's very sad to hear a former two-term prime minister for Pakistan doubt the integrity and the efficiency of the country's own institutions," he said.

The exchange highlighted the deep mistrust that remains between Bhutto and members of the government. Although Bhutto has been negotiating a power-sharing arrangement with President Pervez Musharraf, many officials below Musharraf are against her return to her old job.

Musharraf has said investigating the attack against Bhutto would be a priority. Dr. Ishrat ul Ebad Khan, the governor of Sindh province, said investigators have found the heads of two men that were not claimed by relatives and almost certainly belong to suicide bombers. Police have also detained three people for questioning.

Information from the New York Times was used in this report.

[Last modified October 22, 2007, 23:26:58]