By NNN-APP,
United Nations : Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi flew into New York late Tuesday night for consultations at the United Nations in pursuit of Pakistan’s request for UN investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
Besides his series of engagements at UN Headquarters, the foreign minister will go through a tightly laid-out schedule, including a trip on Friday to Washington where he will confer with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior administration officials as well as American lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to discuss the progress on his letter seeking the establishment of an international commission to probe into Ms. Bhutto’s murder.
The letter, which is in line with the wishes expressed in the unanimous resolutions adopted by the National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies, was submitted to the UN chief by Pakistan’s Ambassador Munir Akram on June 6, and since then the world body has maintained that it was being studied by legal experts.
The foreign minister will also meet ambassadors of important countries accredited to the UN, including those of the Security Council members.
Bhutto, chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party, was killed in a suicide attack last December during an electoral rally at Liaquat Bagh park in Rawalpindi.
His talks with Ban Ki-moon on Thursday will also cover the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s role in the war on terror, officials said. Afterwards, he will address a press conference.
Later today, he will attend a meeting of the Security Council devoted to the situation in Afghanistan.
After his trip to Washington, he will return to meet senior US officials. He will return to New York on Saturday and depart for Pakistan the following day.
On Saturday, he is also expected to grant interviews to the U.S. media and address members of the Pakistani community at the Pakistan House in the evening.
On arrival at New York’s John F. Kennedy International airport, he was received by Ambassador Akram and other officials of the Pakistan Mission and the Consulate General. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani received the foreign minister when he arrived at his hotel.