By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : The US has welcomed Islamabad’s decision to seek British help in probing the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto and suggested that a UN investigation was unnecessary.
“The Pakistanis have just made a decision to ask Scotland Yard to get involved, and we think that that’s appropriate. We welcome that,” White House spokesperson Dana Perino told reporters Wednesday. “We don’t see a need for an investigation beyond that at this time.
“What’s most important is that they proceed quickly and in a transparent and comprehensive way, so that the people of Pakistan can get the answers that they deserve, as they move forward towards the elections,” she said.
Perino also made clear that the US was “going to continue to work with them, because the most important thing we can do is to keep Pakistan as a stable country, establishing their democracy in a way that can lead them away from violence”.
Nor was there any likelihood of cutting US aid to Pakistan despite an ongoing review at the State Department, she indicated. Islamabad has received over $10 billion in US funding, the bulk of it in military assistance, since the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Pakistan has been an important ally in the global war on terror, and it will remain so. There are many challenges in regards to terrorism in that area, and so we’re going to have to continue to work with them,” Perino said.
Urging Pakistani political parties to ask their followers to refrain from violence, she suggested they “look to the investigation that Scotland Yard will produce that will be transparent and fair and hopefully move ahead as quickly as possible”.
Asked why Pakistan did not ask the US for help, Perino declined to go into any details about ongoing discussions with Islamabad. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has been in contact with leaders of various political parties in Pakistan, had briefed President George W. Bush Wednesday, she said.
With the new date set for election, Perino said: “People will be able to move forward in a situation where they can speak freely to the media and continue to move forward on their path to democracy.
“And this is a decision that the Pakistanis have to make. The Americans can’t make every decision for them.
“While they need to focus on their elections to make sure that they remain free and fair and that the violence remains tamped down, they also have to keep in mind that we have a terrorist threat that we have to deal with collectively,” Perino said.
That’s why Bush has continued to talk to not only Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, but Rice too has been in contact with the other members of the political parties there as well, she said.
State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack too welcomed the setting of an election date. “It’s terribly important in the current circumstances where you have so much political turbulence within the Pakistani political system the importance of scheduling that date,” he said.
Welcoming Musharraf’s decision to seek Scotland Yard’s help in probing the Bhutto assassination, McCormack said: “We stand ready to assist if we are requested to do so. If we can provide technical assistance and that is wanted, of course we are going to do so.”
“But I think it’s within the competence and the scope of that investigation to determine all of the facts and to determine who is responsible for this assassination,” he said.
Asked if the US agreed with Musharraf’s claim that terrorists were to blame for the Bhutto murder, the official said he had “no reason to contradict the claims, but I certainly would not draw any conclusions at this point.
“Let’s wait for that (investigation) to take place and see what the results are,” he said.