By IRNA
New York : The United States backed British Scotland Yard assertion that Pakistan’s former premier Benazir Bhutto was killed by shrapnel of the bomb and not by gun shot.
The US state department spokesman said that the Scotland Yard findings are “credible”.
“In terms of the investigation itself by Scotland Yard, we view this as a credible investigation by independent, outside experts. We don’t have any reason why we would question the validity of their assessment,”Tom Casey said.
The British team of forensics and other experts spent two and a half weeks in Pakistan in January at the invitation of President Pervez Musharraf, following the killing of the opposition leader and former prime minister.
Scotland Yard said a lone assassin shot at Bhutto as she waved to supporters at an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27 — but he missed and then detonated explosives which fatally smashed her skull against her car.
The findings, which support the Pakistani government’s controversial theory of the assassination, have caused fresh controversy ahead of general elections in Pakistan on February 18.
The polls were postponed by six weeks because of deadly riots sparked by Bhutto’s assassination.
Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party immediately rejected the findings, insisting that the two-time former premier was slain by a bullet and reiterating calls for a UN inquiry into her murder.
“Certainly it’s important for people to feel that they have a clear understanding of what happened,” Casey said.